In Between
by Ray Lou
Summary: Jamie is an autumn spirit who is sick of doing the same thing for the last five years. It doesn't help that the infamous jerk Jack Frost is screwing up nature's balance. After an unsuccessful first meet, Jack claims that Jamie is his past lover - sort of; they didn't exactly get together. Jamie refuses to believe that they were involved, but he can't deny the attraction.
1. Chapter 1

The Meeting

* * *

It was getting colder, the air's soft chill now an icy nip on the nose. Autumn was passing into winter, and there were no more signs needed that Jack Frost had made a presence. The sparse frost on the grass and the pine trees were just reminders that the autumn spirits of Burgess would soon have a break. After a few months they would be off to the Southern Hemisphere to transition summer into autumn.

Burgess was a hassle for all seasonal spirits due to its large areas of untouched land. There was the entirety of the Burgess Forest, the gaps between neighborhoods and shopping areas, and of course there were the Appalachian Mountains. Burgess was near the Apps, not part of it, so Jamie had no worries of slaving over the mountain's crevices. Autumn was a difficult season to enforce: the right amount of plants had to die, some trees had to lose their leaves while others had to lose their green glow, and wind had to be at different strengths according to Mother Nature's rhythm.

Jamie slapped at a low branch that was frosted thoroughly. It looked out of place with all the other trees and was the wrong note of nature's melody. Seasons weren't forced, they were worked in. But according to the other spirits, Jack had been off for years. Jamie was witness to that. Winter in Burgess didn't come on a smooth ride; it was bumpy and sometimes dropped unexpectedly. Last year, a backyard tree was frosted so thickly, it made the local news.

He chipped at the frost, breaking it down until it was akin to the other lightly frosted trees.

"I hate it as much as you do, but we have to deal."

The voice was a welcome distraction from his thoughts of Jack, but a nuisance. Jamie brought his hand down on the branch with an irritated grunt. "You keep saying that, but everyone else agrees that we should punish him for disrespecting the balance."

"Everyone?"

"Most of us."

"Well," the other autumn spirit climbed down the bare branch he had sat on; another imbalance of Jack's, "unless dear old Manny tells us to, we just have to deal."

"Did you follow me here?"

"Oh of course, because I secretly have loved you since I found you in that dirty hole, and now the time has come to confess my love to you, dear Jamie." The spirit rolled his eyes as he climbed down the tree, which save for that one branch, had a thick coating of needles. It wasn't even natural for pine trees to lose their needles. "I was sleeping up there until you walked by grumbling about stupid Frost and his ignorance of nature's melody."

Jamie wasn't aware that he had been complaining out loud. He pretended that it didn't shock him; Devin was the spirit nobody wanted to embarrass themselves in front of.

"But it's true. Frost's ruining everything for the past five years."

"You weren't even there before Frost went screwball on us." Devin directed a cool blast of autumn air at Jamie, skimming along the ground and picking up a string of leaves. The gust hit Jamie head on. He batted away the leaves, trying to tone down his smile because he was supposed to angry about Jack, not feel an urge to start a game of resistance.

Jamie rubbed his mouth until he was able to fight off the smile. "Doesn't mean I can't tell that Frost's ruining everything. Stop looking at me like that! I'm mad!"

"Not anymore, Jaybo." Devin laughed and jumped a strong wave of wind meant to sweep his feet out.

"I hate that name." Jamie threw another wave that Devin redirected to the side.

"But it's perfect. You should choose it at your naming ceremony.

"I'm fine with Jamie."

"You're not human anymore. You should split with that dreadful human name soon or people will start thinking you're incapable of moving on – oh wait…" Devin struck a thoughtful pose. He stared thoughtfully at the morning sky while he stroked his chin. He dropped the act and bluntly said, "People already think that."

"Devin, please don't."

"It's the truth. If you want to head your own squad, you need to lose the name. It's an anchor. You'll never take off with it."

"I don't _want_ to head my own squad. I _want_ to do something different. Being a leader's different, but I want something more!"

Jamie knew what Devin was going to respond with. As always, he was going to say the "truth" as it was in his view. He was going to say that the biggest difference Jamie could hope for is heading a squad, that he needed to get his head out of the clouds and think rationally, that other spirits were content with the same job for decades, and that Jamie was incredibly selfish.

Devin went down the track that Jamie predicted, and had almost always been correct about. Knowing that the battle was lost and there was no way to convince Devin otherwise, Jamie started the walk to camp. Leaves had begun to swirl around Devin's legs, making a rustle that almost drowned his voice out.

He wasn't known for patience, and Jamie's phase of cowering at Devin's feet was over. Jamie wouldn't bend to him, even though he was the head of their squad.

#

Back at camp, the rest of squad was gathered with bowls of mashed plants and berries. A few raised their heads from their bowls to acknowledge him.

The spirit in charge of the soup bowl quickly splashed two extra bowls full. "Almost late," she said, handing Devin his bowl politely. She thrust the other bowl into Jamie's chest. "You come late, I won't serve you."

"You always say that." Devin poked her nose and her cheeks darkened.

Jamie grabbed a spoon from the woven box next to the pot. He wiped it against the soft fabric of his tunic and sat between two trees with Cee and Kodi, two spirits in the squad who treated Jamie the kindest.

Cee noticed his sour mood and immediately inquired about it.

"It's just that Jack Frost made an early visit and was sloppy, as usual." Jamie stirred his soup, appetite appearing beneath all his irritation.

"You need to chill. Stressing ain't gonna help you," Cee said through a mouthful of food.

"Break's coming soon," Kodi said helpfully. "You can go to the Southern Hemisphere if you want to forget about Frost."

"Why doesn't Manny do anything? He should be angry. And with all the dangerous weather conditions Frost makes, he shouldn't be a Guardian. People die from his blizzards and snowstorms." Jamie shovelled mush in his mouth, grumbling. He swallowed the mouthful in one gulp, choked and coughed a bit, and then gestured angrily. "Guardians protect kids. Frost makes them sick and kills them."

"Ooh. That's a lil' harsh," Cee said.

"It's the truth."

"People die because of the other seasons too," Kodi tentatively added.

"But winter's the most dangerous, thanks to Frost. He probably orders the other winter spirits to amp up the winter conditions."

"Actually, I think the spirits start off with a basic layer of winter and then Frost adds all the intense snowstorms," Kodi said.

"If you have a problem with Frost, take it up with him," pitched Darius as walked in front of Kodi. "I saw him at the Apps yesterday. I said 'hi', but he told me to shut up and froze my feet to the ground. Then he called me a stupid plant person and told me to trim my leaves." Darius's voice lowered as he spoke, and his gaze moved to his bare feet, making it look like he was talking to himself. "But I trimmed them last week..." He self-consciously stroked the small leaves on the short branches that grew from his scalp and then continued to the soup pot where he got another serving.

Jamie exchanged looks with Cee and Kodi.

"Isn't a bad idea. You might get somethin' outta it," Cee said.

"No thanks. I don't want to get my feet frozen to the ground."

"Maybe if you treated him nicely, he'd listen," Kodi said.

"Darius said 'hi' and Frost insulted him _and _froze his feet." Jamie absently ran a finger over his bowl's rim.

"Darius is a freak. Maybe that's why Frost laid a good one on him. Ya'll know how easy it is to get ticked at him. He provokes everyone. Remember that time I socked him a good one?" Cee smiled haughtily at the memory, but Kodi frowned deeply.

"That was mean," Kodi said.

"You're a wimp. Darius is more likely to punch someone than you."

"You're a bully. Darius was fine until he got his memories back. Ever think that something really bad happened in his human life?"

"Dunno. He never talks 'bout it. And if it was that bad, he'd ask Manny to free his soul."

Jamie finished the rest of his food and deposited the empty bowl next to the tree. He stood. "I'm gonna take a walk."

"Be careful. You might pop a vain if you see too much frost," Cee joked in a serious voice, pointing at Jamie with a licked-clean spoon.

"Don't eat too much. You might get fat," Jamie said.

Kodi felt his stomach through his thin shirt. Cee elbowed his arm. "He was talking to me," she said.

#

Jamie wandered through the Burgess forest, averting his eyes whenever he caught a glimpse of frost. He was successful until the gaps between frost grew smaller. He turned around to head back to camp when a chill brushed against the back of his neck. He rubbed it with the tips of his fingers. It was different from other chills he had felt. This one had felt like icy fingers, not like a wind.

He turned around. "Hello?" He ventured forward.

The air was definitely colder now. There was a slight breeze with the same finger-like chill.

Jamie walked deeper into the chill. "Is someone out here?" he called. "You're overdoing the frost. Autumn still has a few days… Hello?" He took another step, and slipped.

He landed roughly on his bottom, wincing. His hands landed on something freezing and wet. Ice. He had slipped and fallen on a thick patch of ice.

"The hell?" Jamie slid off the ice and stood, wiping his wet hands against his pants.

It had to be of Jack's doing. The ice stood out starkly against the brown trail, completely out of place. There was also a fresh look to it. Maybe Jack was nearby.

Jamie continued through the forest, the air getting colder and more ice patches appearing. There was also a thin trail of frost that undoubtedly led to Jack.

"Frost? Are you h-"

A blast of wind made Jamie take a step too big. He stepped on the edge of an ice patch and fell on his hands and knees.

"Hah!" A boy laughed.

Jamie looked over his shoulder. There was no one there. "Frost?"

He stood and backed away cautiously. "Are you there?"

"Yep!"

Wind slammed into Jamie and he lost his balance, falling and then slipping. "You're such a child!" Jamie shouted. He crawled off the ice, only to touch ice again. The patch had spread. In frustration, Jamie ran a hand quickly through his hair, fingers painfully catching on knots of leaves. He slapped his hands down on the ice, grunting in pure anger; he had no desire to deal with immature spirits.

"Aw. Is the baby sapling going to cry?" Jack mocked.

"Can you quit it? I just want to talk." Jamie softened his voice with a sincere tone.

"About what?"

Jamie crawled onto dry land, feeling a surge of success. "You're making autumn's transition into winter choppy."

"And...?"

"It's not right!"

Jamie pushed himself to his feet and breathed in relief. The ground under his feet suddenly frosted over. He was down before he could take another breath. To hell with sincerity! "Hey! Grow up will you?" Jamie unleashed a three-sixty of wind. The wave slammed into tree trunks. There was no sound of a body falling.

"Nope," came Jack's disembodied voice.

"The hell are you anyway?"

"The hell are you?"

The voice came from behind Jamie. He looked over his shoulder quickly and caught a quick look of a pale, white-haired boy. Then something hit him and he went down on his bottom, slipping backwards down an icy path. He zipped between trees and through low bushes, getting mouthfuls of needles and broken pieces of ice. _Ice_. Jack had crossed the borderline with his many patches of frost and now there was _ice_?

Jamie couldn't stomach the anger even as he breezed through on crazy sleigh-less sleigh ride. He swatted at branches and tried to scream; maybe an autumn spirit would hear him.

However, his trip through the forest was sucking the words right out of his mouth.

He was picking up speed, and the blur of the world around him became an unrecognizable mix of forest greens and browns, sky blues and whites, and then everything flashed white, and then was still.

The pain didn't blossom from anywhere. There wasn't a center either. Jamie's entire body felt like a mass of nerves had exploded into a throb that he could _hear_. It sounded like his heartbeat had been amplified.

The world was still, but it didn't feel right. The longer Jamie stared, the sicker he felt. He was lying on his stomach, one hand lying flat on the ground. The soft brown of his flesh was scratched, golden sap bleeding through. Each blink felt like lifting and lowering weights, and a slight twitch of his fingers only made more pain.

He waited for Jack to come, and it felt like minutes had stretched past when he finally showed his face.

The descriptions of Jack's appearance Jamie had heard didn't prepare him at _all _for what he saw. Jack had been described as a handsome boy, frozen in his late teens, dressed in a blue hoodie and torn pants from colonial times. The description was outdated; Jack's hoodie was a plaid combination of black, red, and white. His pants were faded blue jeans with tears through the knees and fringed hems. His feet were bare, to no surprise. And his staff hadn't been described as an intricate woodwork, frosted with a light blue glow.

He had a handsome face, sharp but young. His eyes were piercing blue, his skin nearly as pale as white. It wasn't fair that a rude and dangerous boy had the face of an angel.

Jamie tried to sit up, but something seized sharply in his abdomen.

"Should I apologize or…?" It felt like Jack's voice had shattered a hundred icicles in Jamie's head. Jamie squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, Jack was squatted in front of him. "How do you feel?" Jack asked.

Manny had seriously chosen _this_ guy to be a Guardian? Jamie wanted to laugh until he threw up his breakfast. The world certainly wasn't right if the asshole in front of Jamie was Guardian material. If only this was a dream's nightmare, not reality's.

Jamie stared steadily into Jack's icy blues. He wasn't going to break down in tears, no matter how much pain he was in.

"You have his eyes," Jack said.

Jamie closed his eyes.

"Don't be like that. Let me see them."

"Fuck… You," Jamie managed through the .

"That's real nice," Jack muttered. "What's your name?"

Jamie wanted to latch his hands around Jack's neck and squeeze until the winter spirit was begging for release.

"I'll help you if you tell me your name."

As if! Jamie wouldn't do a thing he asked. And he wouldn't need Jack's help; he was already found.

"Jamie? Jamie? Are you here?" Devin's panicked voice was near.

"Jamie?" Jack flinched back. Jamie opened his eyes to see the winter spirit's eyes rounded in shock. "Your name's Jamie?" he breathed.

"Ja- _Hey!_ Get away!" Devin marched towards Jack, leaves swirling around his boots in violent swirls, a shine to the murderous look in his eyes. His hand rested on the dagger sheathed on his thigh. "Back. The. _Hell_. Away. _Now._"

Jack held up the hand that didn't hold his staff. "Peace."

"The hell'd you do?" Devin shoved Jack to the side. He touched Jamie's cheek, and Jamie definitely wasn't expecting the sharp pain that travelled through his face. He flinched, and Devin withdrew his hand quickly. Sap coated the tips of his fingers. He rubbed them together, testing the thickness of it. The thicker the sap, the deeper the wound. Devin sighed softly, the reaction not as bad as it could have been, considering his past reactions to other injured spirits. "You need to get that sealed."

Devin checked over Jamie's wounds, which turned out to be worse than scratches. While Devin plucked twigs from Jamie's clothes, Jack watched thoughtfully. He kept repeating Jamie's name under his breath every few seconds.

"What was your last name?" Jack asked. Jamie couldn't match the gentle tone to the spirit who had taken him on a death ride.

Jamie furrowed his eyebrows.

Devin glared hard at Jack. "Be useful and go to our camp for a stretcher. Say Devin sent you, and _hurry _or I will _skin you_."

Jamie closed his eyes and focused on making his breaths slow and steady. The pain was numbing out in his arms and legs, but certain parts throbbed with a stronger pain. He dragged his eyes open and Jack was back, unrolling a stretcher.

Devin knelt in front of him, blocking out his view of Jack. He held a syringe full of a green liquid that Jamie recognized as a medication used to knock spirits out.

Jamie never felt the injection.

* * *

**A/N: **Beta'd by **Shattered Equilibrium**.

I'm sure most of you have a brief understanding of what's going on. If not:

Jamie is an autumn spirit. He was found in a hole by Devin, the head of a squad of 15 autumn spirits (not including Devin). He has been a spirit for five years.

_Jack's a jerk for a reason. His outfit also changed for a reason._

I'd like to start this story off with a lot of reviews. For motivation ya know.


	2. Chapter 2

Second Chances

* * *

Someone was stroking Jamie's head, stopping frequently to finger the soft leaves of his hair. Their fingers were cold and made the short stems of his leaves bristle. It felt like there was a dampener on his mind, restricting it from complicated thoughts. He didn't mind – of course he didn't – the thumb brushing against his cheek. It was a familiar touch that Jamie had missed for years, though he hadn't a clue why he missed something he didn't remember.

Someone – the same person stroking his hair and cheek? – was talking. Their voice was weak and distorted, as if Jamie was deep underwater and the person was far above. There was a second voice, deeper and buzzing with anger. The hand withdrew from Jamie's face as the two voices started arguing, and Jamie's peaceful world of black was turning into an irritation.

He tried to tell them to shut up. He must have, because the voices stopped, but something was now painfully clamming up inside his body. The voices started talking again, one was loud and the other was soft; Jamie couldn't tell which was which. He whimpered and turned his head into something that molded to his movement. Now his face hurt, the pain vibrating like a string up and down his body.

Something cold and sharp touched his neck. Then everyone was quiet and nothing hurt at all.

#

The same cold feeling returned to his face. He turned into it, wishing for more touch and more comfort. The block in his mind was gone, and now he could actually think.

He thought of the cool fingers threading between the stems of his hair and lifting up to slip through the leaves and – he remembered.

His eyes snapped open, instantly landing on Jack Frost, who was sitting in front of him on a wooden stool. The spirit's eyes were locked on Jamie's immediately, his hand reaching towards Jamie's head.

Jamie blinked slowly, anger rushing through his veins. "You _freak_!" He slapped Jack's hand down and sat up – or tried to. Something was strapping his abdomen to the bed he lay on: an _infirmary _bed.

"The hell is this?" Jamie struggled against the restrain. He tried to pull free, tugging his body at different angles to find a weak spot, but all he succeeded at was wearing himself out. Jack watched him, his still body language suggesting that he wasn't going to help Jamie at all. "Did you do this?" Jamie spat.

"You almost fell off the bed so I tied to you it." Jack's pleased smile was infuriating. "It worked."

"You demon! I swear – _help!_ Someone get me out!" Jamie glowered at Jack's laughter, wishing he had the ability of a winter spirit, just so he could try to freeze Jack's lips together. "Why the hell are you here? Who let you in?" What kind of infirmary allowed the guilty to visit their victim – especially when they were _down_?

"Calm down, petal face. I saved your life so how about you just be grateful?" Jack crossed his arms and snorted. "Petal face… I like that nickname."

Petal face? That wasn't the most original name; Jamie had heard it tossed across camp many times, but it still boiled his blood. If his wounds opened again, his sap would have the fluidity of water.

"When I get out, I'm going to shove your staff up your ass so hard, it comes out your _throat_."

"Oh, I'm terrified!" Jack jerked up on his seat, faking a fearful expression. Then his face hardened into an arrogant grin. "If I had those petals of yours, they'd be quivering in fear."

"They're not petals. They're _leaves_." Keep your voice strong, Jamie told himself.

Jack flicked at an outlying leaf. "They look pretty small to be leaves."

"Leaves don't have to be big!" Jamie doubted Jack knew how important leaf size was to autumn spirits. It wasn't a low blow, but it was a blow hard enough to shake Jamie's self-esteem. He had always prided himself on not letting his lack of size get to his head, but for whatever reason, Jack's commenting on it was shattering. "Mine are pretty decent compared to other spirits. A-and look at you! You have none!"

"Because I'm a winter spirit." Jack didn't comment on Jamie's weakening voice, and for that Jamie thanked the Moon.

"But winter spirits have nothing physically special. You're just a human with pale skin and white hair. Autumn spirits are only human in resemblance. We're much more elegant and - and _beautiful_ than you bland winter spirits."

"I have this." Jack gestured to his groin, having nothing else to back himself on, nevertheless, insulting Jamie.

All of Jamie's sap ran to his face. "I have that too!"

"I know. I'm just…_bigger_."

Jamie flung himself at his bed restraints with renewed motivation. Had Jack _looked_ at him when he was unconscious? He was dressed in the thin garments that all spirits wore when receiving overnight treatment at an infirmary, and that didn't include underclothes. If Jack did as much as sneak a peek – Jamie was going to have his throat.

Jack started laughing with abandoned consideration for Jamie's poor condition. His rudeness only powered Jamie's desire to get the hell off the bed so he could pound Jack's face in. He wasn't one for letting the actions of one person influence his thoughts on people of the same kind, but Jack's insolence was going to make Jamie hate _all_ the winter spirits.

Jamie flung himself against the strap harder. He must have looked ridiculous flopping up and down on his bed, the usual light brown of his face becoming a dark chocolate color with the intensity of his emotions. Jack laughed harder, clapping like a happy seal, sans the cuteness.

Tears of anger welled in Jamie's eyes. He'd rather cut half of the leaves off his head than submit to Jack's reaction, so he reached deep inside his soul, focusing on the tight ball of energy formed by a multitude of emotions. He unleashed strips of it, sharp currents of air cutting through the strap.

Jack flew off his stool, almost slamming into the wall across from the bed. His staff shot into his hand, bursting with bright blue energy. "Chill out, James, I was _toying_ with you."

"I don't fucking care!" Jamie jumped off his bed, swaying, and then charging at Jack with the fury of the wind at his hands.

Jack swung his staff and a wave of wind sent Jamie falling on his bottom. "Calm down." He didn't sound anything close to shaken. Jamie would see to that. He wanted Jack to cower in the corner, to feel as frightened as Jamie had in the forest.

Jamie blasted at Jack's face with waves sharp enough to (he hoped) cut flesh. Jack ducked, and the cabinet of medicines on the wall rattled, some bottles and jars tipping over. Another shot at Jack's face made the glass of the viewing panes shatter.

"Jesus. You're taking this _way_ too-" Jack dodged another attack, "seriously!" He looked back at the cabinet, finally showing something other than apathy: shock. It was pleasing to Jamie, but he wanted Jack's eyes wide with _fear_.

Jamie rushed at him, taking him down with his own body, aided by the wind. They crashed into the wall, taking down bottles of medical supplies off the counter. Jamie landed on top of Jack, hand automatically going for the staff. He slammed the heel of his palm against Jack's wrist. Jack cried out and released it, his other hand going for Jamie's throat.

Jamie pushed the staff away with wind, grabbing blindly at the arm around his neck. Jack pulled Jamie's head to his chest, rolling them onto their sides. He flexed his arm, pinning Jamie in a restrictive headlock. He swung a leg over Jamie's body, keeping his thrashing legs still.

"Shhh," he said softly into Jamie's ear, his chilly breath sending trills down Jamie's spine. "Jamie, listen. _Please_. I know you're pissed at me and I'm a jerk for being – a jerk…but you need to calm down. You're still in recovery."

Jamie tugged fleetingly on the arm around his neck. "You ruin everything," he said in an embarrassingly watery voice. He had never felt so emotionally charged. Something about Jack was revving up the wrong side of him, and his eyes were as watery as his throat felt tight. He gulped, wishing he could just as easily gulp down the oncoming tears. It wasn't even pollinating week and he was on edge about _everything. _Everything in that moment pissed him off, Jack most of all, and maybe Jack was a trigger to something Jamie couldn't label.

"Tell me something I don't know, but Jamie – please stop thrashing." Jack's voice was like a caress. It sounded natural and inviting; Jamie almost obeyed without thought.

"No!" Jamie shook his head, trying to catch Jack's head. "Let me go!"

"I can't. You'll hurt yourself." The care in Jack's voice sounded real. Real, but Jamie didn't want to believe it. It didn't make sense for Jack to have a caring side. With the care he showed Jamie after injuring him – the _nonexistent_ care – Jamie didn't want to believe that Jack could care at all.

"You hurt me!" Jamie's voice cracked, and curse Mother Nature, pollinating week had probably arrived early.

"You'll hurt yourself more. I won't let go until you calm down and promise not to attack again."

"The fuck is with you? First you send me on that death ride, then you make fun of me, and now you're being all caring?" Jamie sucked in his breaths.

"It's a long story, and I don't know if I can tell you, but I wasn't expecting you to take me seriously and – _Jamie_ calm _down_. I'll freeze you still if you don't stop moving."

"I'd listen to him if I were you. Despite how energetic you may feel, you still need your rest," Devin's voice suddenly said. "And I told you not to use the strap, Jack."

"He almost fell off his bed," Jack said.

"I happen to know very well that Jamie doesn't thrash around when he sleeps."

Jamie could feel the muscles in Jack's arms stress, but his voice was soft when he said, "And you'd know that because…?"

"I just do. Jamie, please don't fight back. You've already gotten an audience of spirits outside and Kodi won't be able to hold Cee back for long. And despite the fact that Jack appears to be molesting you…I'll let him hold you down until you 'chill out', as he puts it."

"Fine." Jamie relaxed, surprised that when he did a large gap of space was created between him and Jack. He slipped out of Jack's hold, not sure if he'd be able to hold himself back if Jack grabbed him again. Fortunately, Jack only stood and brushed his hoodie off. "How long've I been out?"

He grabbed the blanket that had flown off his bed with his first explosion of wind. The restraining strap was torn, dangling off the sides of the bed with the buckled portion of it completely torn off and lying on the ground. Jamie picked it up, frowning as he rubbed the material. It was thick, strong, and he had ripped it easily. He wasn't one of the strongest autumn spirits, so this was a complete shock. The privacy curtains around his bed were torn as well, slivers of leafy fabric lying on the floor.

Through the gaps of the curtains Jamie could see that he had flipped the other two beds completely over and torn the fabric of the other curtains, even one that wasn't drawn around the bed. He whistled and righted the stool that had toppled with Jack. "Did I do that?"

"Yeah. You also broke the cabinets," Jack said and pointed at the shattered glass sprinkled on the ground and the toppled medicine jars, some of which were broken.

"O-oh shit. I'm sorry." Jamie met Devin's blank gaze.

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Leya; she's the one in charge of all this. Darius might cry though. You know how emotional he gets with his woodcraft." Devin laughed.

"He cried?" Jack snickered.

"Woodcraft is a lot of work, sometimes painful. You'd understand if you were an autumn spirit – which you aren't."

Jamie tucked himself in, unable to feel comfortable in a room full of damage he had unintentionally caused. His only goal was to get back at Jack for making his job a hell of a lot harder – and put his raging emotions somewhere. Now Leya, the spirit in charge of the infirmary, had a mess to clean, and Darius had the pain of creating a new set of cabinets.

Jack dragged the stool closer to Jamie's bed, leaning his staff against the foot of it. "How long have you been sitting there? Before I woke?" Jamie asked, bringing his voice to a normal volume. It didn't shake, and Jamie labelled the brief moment of intense anger as a result of Mother Nature's poorly timed gift. He'd pollinate as soon as he was discharged.

"Not too long. Maybe five minutes a day."

Jamie's eyes shot open. "How long have I been out?"

"One day." Jack grinned.

Jamie blew a soft gust of wind at Jack's face. It was fascinating how his snowy hair feathered out. The winter spirit closed his eyes, smiling softly, and tilted his head into the wind. "What else can your mouth do?" Jack purred.

"You're disgusting." It was also fascinating how Jamie didn't feel as disgusted as he did before.

"But you like that, at least when you – when you…" Jack sounded more lost than confident, and it showed when he scratched the back of his ear. "You changed."

"What?"

Jack shook his head. "Forget it. I just, do you remember anything about your human life?"

"Nope."

"Manny didn't talk to you about it?"

"He only told me my name."

"Only your name?" Jack sounded less like a trickster and more like a respectable and responsible spirit.

"He said I was Jamie and that was it."

"Same with me. He said I was Jack Frost, and no matter how many times I talk to him, he never talks back. Did he give you a last name?"

"Nope, but autumn spirits don't have last names. We only have a first name, and that's the one we choose at our naming ceremony."

"You chose Jamie?"

"I didn't have mine yet. We all have our human names, but we change it so we can make the transformation from mortal to spirit complete. It's…weird, but a lot of us think we can't do our jobs with our pasts hanging behind us, not that all of us know our pasts." Jamie thought much about his past, sometimes wondering as he watched humans hike through the forest if used to do the same. He loved nature, always felt one with it, and technically was a part of it, but he wondered if he was the same as a human. "I don't know my past," Jamie whispered, suddenly feeling emotionally drained, "but I've always wondered how I went. Did I die or was I chosen? And what about my family? Spirits tend to have the most depressing pasts it seems, as you probably know, and I think I might have had one too. I want to know, but at the same time I really don't."

Jack nodded, eyes glazing with a frostlike appearance. "Before I knew my past, I thought the same. I'm just one of the other spirits who had a sob story. I went ice skating with my sister and the ice cracked, so I used my staff," he held it up, the staff head pulsing a deep blue, "to fling her to the shore. I ended up falling through the ice and – I drowned. I don't know what happened next. Obviously I died," Jack laughed harshly, "but I hope she did okay."

That was a different side to the mischievous Jack Frost that Jamie rather enjoyed. His sister was part of his tragic back-story, but there had to be more. If his pranks were a front to the true feelings Jack had, maybe Jamie could help. Mother Nature and Manny hear him clearly; Jamie had no intentions of playing Jack just to hear the story no one else knew.

But if Jack needed someone to talk to, Jamie could that person. And if that was enough for Jack, maybe he'd smooth out his transitions and make Jamie's job easier and more enjoyable.

Jack was calmer now, his face loosened up so he looked friendly, and that was proof enough that Jack needed someone to talk to.

For the sake of a poor spirit and for Mother Nature's melody, Jamie would befriend Jack. He stuck a hand out from his thin blanket cocoon. Jack looked down at it.

"Shake it," Jamie encouraged with a smile.

Jack smiled and took it, his grip firm.

"We started off on bad terms," Jamie said, "but I'm giving you a second chance, if you'll give me one too. I think…we can be friends. Don't laugh at me. I mean it. I've heard a lot about you, and you've probably never heard about me, but…what do you say?" It sounded better in Jamie's head, and Jack looked utterly lost.

"Friendship?" Jack blinked, and then broke into a contagious smile. He shook Jamie's hand strongly. "The name's Jack Frost. Guardian of fun."

Jamie laughed and shook Jack's hand as best he could from his angle. "Jamie."

"Pleasure to meet you. Again."

"The pleasure's mine, Guardian."

* * *

**A/N:** Beta'd by **Shattered Equilibrium**.

Sobbing because I don't know if this is good enough.

Second chances because they get a second chance at a relationship and Jamie's literally giving Jack a second chance after getting beat up in the forest.

Pollination is kind of like periods. KIND OF. I'll elaborate later. All autumn spirits have it. Anyone wanna guess what exactly it is?

Jerk!Jack in next chapter! :) (Also, check out my tumblr. Link is on my profile.)


	3. Chapter 3

Revelations

* * *

Jamie wasn't sure how he was going to approach a friendship with Jack. He wasn't sure that the nicer side of Jack yesterday was a common occurrence. As the future had it, Jamie was correct.

The next morning he woke to a cool breeze wafting up his infirmary tunic. He first thought someone had left the infirmary door open, so he curled his knees in and waited for someone to shut the door. When he heard strained giggling, an image of Jack popped in his head. He lurched up, pulling his tunic's hem over his knees.

Jack scooted his stool back, screeching against the floor. "I couldn't help myself!" Jack sputtered. His florid cheeks were pulled up in a painfully big smile. "Your leaves twitch!"

"You were staring up my gown!" Jamie accused, the embarrassment painfully burning his face. He yanked his blanket over his lap.

"I wasn't. I was just blowing a little wind up your leg. Your shirt was in the way." Jack blew Jamie's face.

Jamie crossed his arms in front of his face. The air bit at his bare flesh. "Stop it!"

Jack snorted and blew again. "Hah! They're still twitching!"

"Because you're blowing on them!" Jamie tucked his head in, inadvertently presenting the rest of his head to Jack.

"I'm not right now and they're still moving. They're like little snakes, you know? Medusa and all. Only you have a shitload of them. Like hundreds."

Jamie smoothed a hand over his hair, pressing his leaves down as Jack blew at them again. "Quit it!" Jack didn't listen, as Jamie predicted, but it still maddened him. He could feel the twitching getting worse. "You want a friendship? Stop bothering me!"

"Come on Jamie. I'm just having fun. If you're so prissy about it, why should I bother sticking around? After all, your friends don't want me here."

"Then leave! I gave you a second chance and you're ruining it! You gave me a second chance too, and I'm taking it seriously; you're not. You want to have fun? Fine! Just don't do it at my expense. I don't like having people blow cold air up my tunic. It's harassment." Jamie straightened his body to match his assertive tone, which unexpectedly held Jack's attention. The winter spirit was listening earnestly. "Are you listening to me or are you just faking it?"

"No, no. I'm listening. I'm just…happy." Jack reached behind the stool and picked up a red draw-bag with an embroidered "N" on its center. He pulled Jamie's tunic and leggings out. "I had North wash and stitch these for you." He sniffed them and then handed them over. "I had him use pumpkin scented detergent."

Jamie looked them over, marvelling at the cleanliness. "Send him my thanks." Jamie noticed a small detail on the hem. He peered closer at it. "What is this? An…elf?"

"What?" Jack took the tunic back. He laughed. "Well, looks like the yetis got their hands in it."

Jamie looked over his leggings. "And here too." He pointed out the two elves stitched onto both of the legs.

"They miss you," Jack said, rubbing the small designs thoughtfully. Then a bewildered look crossed his face. "I can't believe you're here."

"I can't believe _you're_ here. I never thought I'd meet the great Jack Frost. I never thought he'd beat me up either." Jamie meant it as a light joke, and he thought Jack would see it that way.

"I didn't mean to beat you up. It was a heat of the moment thing. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm sure you've heard stories about me. My past and why I'm such a dick." Jack tilted his head. "Haven't you?"

"Everyone knows you have a tragic past. No one knows what exactly happened, but I know you died saving your sister."

"That's a small part of it. Tragic, but not the actual tragedy people are talking about… Have you heard any rumors about a special someone I lost?"

"That was actually the first rumor I heard. They said that you fell in love with a human and you lost her."

"Him. I lost him," Jack correctly solemnly.

Jamie didn't mean to gape, but he didn't bother correcting himself. "You mean it's true?"

Jack nodded. "I lost him before I got to say goodbye. Until now. That's why I'm still here." Jack pulled a dark green scarf out of the draw-bag. "Do me a big favor. Put this on."

Jamie gingerly took it. He half expected it to wrap around his neck and choke him into oblivion. "You're not going to freeze it when I knot it, right?"

Jack waved him off, slightly disturbed. "Why would I? I won't. Just, please put it on."

Jamie wrapped it around loosely, giving it space in case Jack did something else with it, like tug it until it was bunched painfully around his neck. "Happy?" He held his arms out as a sort of ta-dah.

"You have his eyes." Jack sounded mystified and delighted at the same time.

"You said that after you beat – you said that in the forest. Whose eyes do I have?" Jamie realized he was batting his lashes and quickly put an end to it.

Jack scooted his stool closer until his knees were against the side of Jamie's bed.

"His eyes," Jack said. He unwrapped the scarf and then redid it. His eyes roamed over Jamie's face, hands moving slower as he rewrapped the scarf, breaths longer.

His eyes were like snowflakes, thought Jamie. They were many shades of blue with flecks of white. Jamie's self-consciousness took a jump in levels. Jack was so close… Did Jamie's cuts heal over smoothly or were there ragged scars left in their place? His fingers itched to seek any deformities out.

If anyone asked, Jamie would deny it, but he couldn't deny the truth to himself. He enjoyed the close attention. It felt like someone was truly fascinated with him in more ways than one. If he dug in deeper into Jack's gaze, he thought he'd be able to find more than two hidden truths.

Jack's hands had been lingering in front of Jamie's shoulders, and as if snapped from a stupor, he tugged the ends of the scarf down. "That's how he used to tie it: the way you did it. And I would correct him because it kept getting blown away by the wind."

Jamie fingered an end of the scarf, fingers brushing against embroidery. He flipped the end over. "JB" was stitched in elegant cursive.

"His initials," Jack explained.

"What was his name?" Jamie tried not to sound interested.

"Jamie Bennett."

"He has the same name as me? That's why you're here? Because I have the same name as him?"

"No, Jamie... It's because you _are_ him."

Jamie's mind went completely blank. He stared at Jack, unable to think of anything to say, how to act – or even _think_. Everything was just white.

Jack wasn't sure how to act either. He smiled and frowned and raised his eyebrows and then did a sheepish show of jazz hands. "Surprise…?"

Jamie's ability came back full force. He tore off his scarf and threw it at Jack's face. "I'm going to change." He snatched his tunic and leggings to his chest and speed walked to the bathroom. He dressed quickly and then remembered that he didn't have his boots. He didn't want to ask Jack for them. He wanted to run outside and go about his the only business he should've had: finishing up the last two weeks of autumn.

He didn't want to think about Jack's past. He didn't want to think about his tragic love. He didn't want to think about playing a role in it.

He didn't want to be in it.

The lover of Jack Frost? The one who captured his icy heart and then shattered it with his death or disappearance or whatever it was?

Nope.

Jamie didn't see it.

"Jamie? Did I upset you?" Jack's sudden voice startled Jamie into yelping and tripping over his leggings as he struggled into them. "Jamie? Are you okay?"

"What're you playing at? Making up stories about you and me. Is this your way of making friends?" Jamie didn't know why he sounded like he was about to cry.

"I'm not making it up. I swear on my Guardian life that we were together. Officially for a day, but-"

"If you're gonna say things like that, don't make me sound cheap!" Jamie shoved his head through his tunic's opening.

"You're not cheap. It's a long story. I can't tell you all the details, but I'll clear it up for you. Give me the chance."

Jamie's frustration grew with the realization that Jack hadn't given him his sash. He needed his boots and his sash and an idea of what to do with Jack blocking his only exit. Another plan to get Jack to shape up would be great too; Jamie's plan to influence Jack's frosting of Burgess through a friendship had gone up in flames.

He took a deep breath that did nothing helpful and turned the doorknob. The door pushed open, Jack toppling through with a gasp. He crashed against Jamie, his head smacking against Jamie's chest. They fell with little more than synonymous gasps and grasps at each other.

Everything flashed black when Jamie's head hit the ground. His surroundings came back with a splash of color.

He blinked rapidly, clearing his eyes of the strain from the throb in his head.

Jack was on top of him, chin on Jamie's chest and big eyes staring at him. "Sorry." His voice was louder than Jamie thought it should have been. "I was leaning on the door so I fell."

"You just keep hurting me," Jamie muttered. He rubbed his face to hide his burning cheeks. He could feel Jack against him. More of Jack than he wanted to feel. "Get off me. Please."

"Sorry."

"You said that already."

"I really am sorry. How's your head? It sounded like you banged it on the ground."

Jamie laughed out of pain and pushed at Jack's shoulder. The winter spirit carefully maneuvered himself off with little touches to Jamie's body. "I should stop touching you. All I do is hurt you."

"You're being sarcastic, right?"

"A little." Jack helped Jamie sit up, leaving a hand against his back for support. His touch sent pleasant chills down Jamie's back. _Pleasant_. "How's your head?" He started rubbing and Jamie slouched into it. "Like that?"

"No." Jamie elbowed Jack's hand away. "Don't touch me like that. We aren't…together."

"We were."

"No we weren't." Jamie felt the back of his head for bruises and blood. "I'm not falling for your games."

"I'm not joking. I'm serious. I'm not always serious, but I am now. I wouldn't joke about this, Jamie. I _can't_ joke about it."

Jamie was almost certain he had heard something similar a long time ago. A long time ago that he couldn't put a range on. Years ago?

"Do you remember?" Jack leaned in front of Jamie with bright eyes. "Did you get it back?"

Jamie pushed Jack away. "Get what back?"

"Your memories! You look like you just remembered something."

"I just thought that I'd heard it before… That thing you said about not joking." Jamie looked at his bootless feet. "Uh, can I have my boots back? And my sash? You didn't give them-"

"You remember!" Jack leapt backward onto his feet, almost nicking the edge of the sink counter.

"I didn't say that."

Jack tore his hands through his hair. Jamie wished his fingers would get caught in a knot and rip himself a bald spot. "When you were human, I told you that! Or you told me that. I don't remember exactly, but I _know_ someone said that!"

"It's a common phrase. Someone else probably said that. It's nothing. Just déjà vu."

Jack ran out of the bathroom, pointing at Jamie to stay as if he was a pet. He came back with the green scarf fluttering in his hand. "Tell me this doesn't make your eyes pop," Jack said in quick breath, whipping it sloppily around Jamie's neck. "Tell me this doesn't compliment your eyes in the most perfect way!"

Jack hoisted Jamie to his feet by his armpits. "Don't touch me!" Jamie struggled. "Let me go!"

Jack hugged Jamie tight, trapping his arms to his side. He moved them in front of the sink's mirror. "Look at yourself! Jamie, look!"

Jamie kept his gaze down. "No!"

"I won't let you go then." Jack nudged his thigh between Jamie's legs. The squirming stopped instantly; if he kept moving, he'd be grinding Jack's leg.

Smart move, Jamie thought. He hoped Jack didn't know it. He was probably right; Jack was too fixated on the mirror.

Jamie raised his gaze. He met Jack's rapt gaze. "What?"

"Look at yourself!"

Jamie did. He wasn't shocked at anything he saw. It was just Guardian Jack Frost and spirit Jamie in the reflection. "I am."

"Don't you see?" Jack asked.

"See what?"

Jack was hurt. "How the scarf is perfect for you. Your eyes… Look at them."

"It's a green scarf, Frost," Jamie said, and Jack flinched at his name. "It goes well with my eyes, I'll admit, but there's nothing special."

"Because you're not looking hard enough. You need to look, look deeper." Jack's voice broke. "You don't understand. You need your memories back and then you'll see. You'll see. I'm not crazy. I see it but you don't. You just… need to remember." Jack stepped back. "I'm sorry. It's probably because you're not human anymore. But I still see it." He laughed and scratched at the corner of his eyes.

"Still see what?" Jamie wished he could see what Jack was thrilled about. It sounded like he was missing something breathtaking.

"The green goes well with your eyes. Or maybe it's just me. I gave it to you for Christmas."

Jamie looked back at the mirror. "It does look good with my eyes," he admitted, and Jack looked up with a hopeful expression, "but not so much that I think it's freaking fantastic."

"Your skin was lighter. And you didn't have leaves growing on your head. It didn't distract from your eyes." Jack brushed his fingers along the portion of the scarf on the back of Jamie's neck. "Maybe I'm just seeing things…" he trailed off in thought. Jamie held still as Jack's fingers crept to the scarf's knot. "You know…because I'm blindly in love." Jack chuckled humorlessly, like a fool who understood that he was a fool. A fool who thought he was in love, Jamie thought.

"Blindly in love…right. I'm going to…" Jamie gestured outside, and edged around Jack, loosening the scarf. He tugged it off and pressed it to Jack's chest. "…go…" When his back was to the open doorway, Jamie made his quick exit.

Jack called his name in confusion.

Jamie's boots were under his bed, and his sash in the draw-bag. He tugged the boots on as he walked.

He tied his sash on as the early morning sunlight filtered through the tree tops. It was a clear autumn day, a rarity with Jack's presence.

"Jamie!" Cee slammed into him with force of a strong wind. "I was worrying my head off!"

"Everyone was," Kodi said uncomfortably. A sheer layer of frost covered his leaves. He scratched at them, causing Cee to flick at his hands.

"Don't do that. You wanna be bald?" She flicked him again when he attempted to itch again. "Let it thaw out."

"Did Frost do that?" Jamie pointed. He noticed that the flaps to the tents were all drawn. The rest of the camp was sleeping then. How early in the morning was it? "Did you guys wait out here for me?"

"We were just on our way. Everyone's sleeping in today. Lazy bums. But Kodi and I couldn't wait to talk to you, so we got up early." She grinned and ruffled Jamie's leaves. She jerked her chin at Kodi's frosted leaves. "And Frost... You can bet your life he did that. While you were out he went bananas. He wouldn't sit down until Devin allowed him to talk to you. Actually, he did sit down. It was freakin' cool. He sat on top of the roof," she pointed at the infirmary's roof, "and frost went down the walls to the ground. Kodi was closest to Frost so he got personal with it. Ya know?" She winked.

Kodi ducked his head in embarrassment. "I told you not to share that," he murmured, dropping his hand to his groin where he hovered. He hesitated scratching, checked their surroundings, and then proceeded to itch. He kept his eyes lowered. "Sorry… It's just really itchy."

The infirmary door opened and chilly air flowed over the trio. Kodi's hands shot in the air, then he hid behind Cee's taller frame.

"It was kind of hot in there so I chilled it out." Jack stepped out, stretching his arms out and mewling.

The cold air was continuously streaming out as if there was a massive supply of it in the infirmary. It looked normal inside, frostless – thank goodness.

Jack charmingly grinned at Cee, walking around so he could grin at Kodi as well. The cold was coming _from_ Jack, not the infirmary.

"Bye," Jamie said and nodded at Cee and Kodi.

"Where you going?" Jack called after him, flirtatious and sounding nothing like the love-struck spirit he was minutes ago.

Jamie strained his ears to listen for following footsteps. He didn't respond.

He walked into the forest, wishing more than ever to be able to fly. He never had gotten to learning; he kept pushing it aside to work on coloring leaves and spreading autumn wind through Burgess. Devin had continued to call him lazy until Jamie pointed out that Devin hadn't learned how to fly either.

Jack dropped in front of Jamie.

"Hey Jamie, I'm sorry if I-"

Jamie about-faced and continued walking.

Jack darted in front of Jamie. "Jamie, please!"

Jamie brushed Jack aside with little effort. "Please yourself."

"I'm sorry if I rushed into it, but I didn't know what else to do!"

"You think I believe you," Jamie sneered, "but I'm not stupid. I know what I'm being played with."

"I'm telling the truth. I loved you. I _still_ love you. I doubted it at first, but then I started recognizing the little things you do. Now I know for sure that you're him."

"The little things I do…?" Jamie made a right off the main path. Jack followed the change of direction easily.

"You fidget when you're angry or nervous. Like now." Jack pointed at Jamie's fondling of his sash.

Jamie dropped his hands at his sides. "A lot of people do it."

"You bite your lip when you want to say something but can't."

"Again, a lot of people do it."

"You shift your jaw to the side when you're pissed. And you're doing it right now!"

"You're just listing things as I do them. How am I supposed to believe any of that?"

"I know your weak spots."

Jamie stopped walking. Jack continued ahead. He turned around, twirling his staff lazily. "You heard that correctly." He flipped it on to his shoulders. "For example, I know that you love it when I bite your earlobe."

"I haven't been with anyone in my years as spirit!" Jamie defended, his neck breaking in a hot and cold sweat.

"I can prove it right now." Jack leaned in Jamie's personal space, eyes flicking to his ear as if he intended to do just that. "Permission…? Mr. Bennett?"

Jamie shoved Jack back. "If you touch me, I'll cut your head off."

Jack held a hand up in defence. "How else am I supposed to prove that I know you?"

"You can't. Even if - by some chance - I believe you, I'm not going to fall back in your arms. Things are…different."

Jamie walked past a speechless Jack. "Different?" Jack turned on him, gripping his staff with stony hands. "Different how?"

"I don't know. I don't know how we were when were together. _If_ we were together. But I do know that we could never get back to that."

Jack relaxed out of his stiff posture. "I don't want us to go back to how things were. There was a ton of drama and we only were together for one day, but-"

"_One day?_ One day. _One_. _Day._ You're _kidding me_." Jamie laughed at the absurdity of the thought. They were together for one day? He failed to see any reason worthy to fuss about it. "Did we fuck so hard that you fell in love with me?"

Jack took a step back. "No… It wasn't like that at all."

"Then what was it about? What the _hell_ was it about?"

"It was about _love_! We met before I was a Guardian and when you were ten. We hung out almost every day during winter. Even when it wasn't winter we still met! Always here, in Burgess. Sometimes I flew you to different states and sometimes we used Bunnymund's tunnels. We hung out for _years_. I've always loved you. Always. But I didn't learn how much I loved you until I found out you had a crush on me. Then I got confused and drama happened – that's another story! – but I learned that I loved you. We had one day together – one night" – Jamie turned his back on Jack and started walking - "but it doesn't matter! It doesn't matter because I lost you and then I found you – don't go. Please!"

Jamie shook his head and quickened his pace. "Stay away from me."

"Jamie-"

"Stay away from the camp-"

"-I'm telling the truth. I swear!"

"-and my friends." Jamie wished his voice would stop shaking and that his eyes would stop misting over. "Stay away from the whole goddamn camp."

"You're walking away… You're walking away just like before."

His wrist was seized in a searing hold. "Let me go," he ground out.

"Don't walk away. Not again. I thought I'd lost you, but I never did. You were here all along and I-"

Jamie painfully twisted his wrist out. Jack seized it again. "I'm not him. Get it through your frozen skull that I'm _not_ your long lost lover. He's dead. He's _dead_." Jamie snapped his wrist out again. Tears sprang in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'm not who you're looking for."

"Yes you are. I _know_ you are."

"I am _not_."

"If you'd just-"

"If _you'd_ just leave me alone... It'd be much appreciated."

Jack lifted his staff, and Jamie braced for an attack. Jack only brought it up to use as a prop. He leaned against it, wet eyes piercing in Jamie's. "If you'd just give me another chance… I'll prove to you that I'm someone you can love. Forget that you're from my past. Let's just…start over."

Jamie looked down at Jack's shaking hands. The staff was wobbling too. If Jack shook too much, he would fall.

"Quit shaking," Jamie commanded.

"I tried."

Jamie sighed. "Fine. Only because I feel...bad…I'll give you a _third_ chance. Don't screw it up. No more mentions of our 'past'. Deal?"

"Oh, Jamie. Thank you. Thank you so much." Jack threw his staff to the ground and lunged at Jamie, pulling him into an unexpectedly warm hug. He pressed his nose into Jamie's neck. "Thank you…"

Jamie stiffened. "You're…welcome." He firmly patted Jack's back. "Now let me go or I'll tell everyone how desperate Jack Frost is."

Jack obeyed. When Jamie next saw his face, his eyes were still wet but had a bright shine. He smiled. "Then I'll wreak havoc on your camp."

"You wouldn't dare."

"How do you know what I wouldn't do?" Jack winked, back to the charming trickster Jamie knew him as.

* * *

**A/N: **Beta'd by **Shattered Equilibrium**.

I have fanart! Check out my author's profile. They're done by frosted-cocoa and angelwhoisinlovewithyou. Beautiful artwork. I literally cried thinking about their work.

Notice the new cover? ;) It's one of the beautiful pieces created by angelwhoisinlovewithyou. I'm going to update the other covers later after I get permission to use them. ^^

I'm slowly adding in the angst/drama/hurt/etc. Be prepared to cry guys. I'm adding things in future chapters that will make even me cry. It takes a lot to make me cry. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Impressions

* * *

The camp hated Jack. _Hated_. Hated with all the emphasis one could put on the word. Jamie was speechless as the terrible reception Jack had when the two of them returned from the forest. At first the camp's activity slowed down to a trickle of productivity and everyone stared at Jack with heated eyes. Devin came out of the infirmary with a half competent Darius clasping his shoulder and the camp snapped back into action. The camp still traded hateful looks at Jack. Only Kodi and Devin gave Jack neutral looks. Darius, as winded down as he was from the shock of his destroyed cabinets, was the most brutal with his gazes. It would've been funny if Darius didn't have one of the cook's knives in his hand the whole time he was around Jack. Jamie knew Darius wouldn't go as far as to physically injure someone, but the poor boy wasn't beyond holding the knife and threatening to slit Jack's neck.

Jamie thought the glares were bad enough. Jack acted like they were amusing. He smiled at the spirits who glowered at him, grinned at the ones who barred their teeth at him, and even ruffled the hair of Darius – _when _the spirit had a knife in his hand. He later traded it for a butcher knife. He must have gotten it from a human town because autumn spirits had no need for meat, but the idea that he had gone off to a human town _just_ to get a butcher knife was unsettling. Towards the start of lunch Darius flung the knife at a tree just meters from where Jack stood. Jamie had been talking with him about Mother Nature's melody (and Jack had seemed really interested in it). When the knife went flying, Jack yanked Jamie into his chest and pressed him against a tree, shielding him from Darius. Before Jamie found out that it was a defensive reflex, he had felt like melting into Jack's cool body. Then he saw the knife sticking out of the tree trunk. Devin pulled Darius into the forest, commanding the camp to "keep working". Most of the camp listened.

"Jamie," Cee said, siding up to him with a glare at Jack that similar to the rest of the camp's, "all you've done today is talk with frost boy and laze around camp. Why don't you go do something and help the lot of us?"

"I'll do a night shift."

"Yeah sure. You hate going out at night. 'Specially alone." Cee redid her ponytail, eyes flickering with resentment at Jack. "And you Frost. Don't ya have a camp to return to? A house of ice or something?"

"I've got my own spirits working for me. They're all well instructed on what to do. I don't need to command them." Jack cockily smiled. "Dev's a great leader though. I just don't get why you have to keep returning to camp during your shifts."

"'Cause we need to collaborate with the others to make sure we're not fucking anything up. You wouldn't know that, would ya? 'Cause you're always fucking up. Like letting your sister drown in the lake and letting your lover die -"

If Jamie hadn't been standing between them, Jack surely would have had his hands around Cee's neck in seconds. Jack tried to step around Jamie, but Jamie grabbed his wrist – the one holding his now pulsing blue staff – and waddled him back.

Jack's eyes were trained above Jamie's head on Cee. He bit his lip, and Jamie could see how deep the indentations went; he expected to see blood trickle out. He blinked and a coat of tears covered his eyes. They collected at his bottom lid. One more blink and they'd spill.

"Is it true? You let your sister and your lover die? Those were just rumors. But looks like they're true." Cee shrugged, apathetic to Jack's threatening look.

"She died in childbirth. _I_ died in the lake." Jack's voice was strong and if it wasn't for how close Jamie was to him, the trembles in Jack's voice would've been unheard.

"And your lover-"

"I had nothing to do with his death. We weren't together when it happened." Jack blinked and the first tears slipped down his cheeks. "Your rumors may say that I am dangerous and heartless and evil, but I am _not_. Don't believe everything you hear."

"Dangerous? Uh, dude, you almost killed Jamie in the forest. What do _you _call that? Fun?"

Jack tried to tug his hand out of Jamie's. "She's baiting you," Jamie whispered, unsure if Jack eve knew he was there. Jack seemed so intent on Cee and biting back that Jamie was only an obstacle in his way. "Jack," Jamie whispered louder and squeezed Jack's wrist. Jack looked at him as if he had forgotten he was there. "Jack," Jamie repeated, "she's baiting you."

"I'm _protecting_ you, Jamie. Jack's dangerous. He almost _killed_ you. He doesn't belong anywhere near you. He's gotta go." Cee reached for Jamie's free hand.

Jack snatched him back.

Jamie realized that all six spirits on campsite were watching. Kodi who stood the furthest from the point of interest had a hand on the wooden focus strapped to his thigh. "It's okay!" Jamie assured them, but his voice went over their heads.

"Let 'im go," Cee said. "We don't like it when other seasons touch us. 'Specially winter."

"So Jamie can touch me but I can't touch him?"

"Don't bite the bait," Jamie whispered.

"Three seconds to let him go before I kick your balls in." Cee crossed her arms and cocked her hips. "Three…"

Jack walked Jamie towards the forest, his wrist still captive. "Jack," Jamie hissed, "she's _serious_."

"_Two!_" Cee shouted.

"I don't care." Jack laughed bitterly and propped his staff on his shoulder "We're leaving."

"_We?_" Jamie stopped walking. Jack continued at a constant speed and ended up dragging Jamie.

"_Three!_ Let him go!" Cee screamed. Wind tore through the trees, tearing needles from pine trees and the rounder leaves from others.

"Nope!" Jack shouted over the scream of the wind.

"Jack, you don't understand. I can't _leave_-" There was a sharp crack and then something thin but strong wrapped around Jamie's waist. He saw the beginnings of a furious expression on Jack's face just when he was yanked out of Jack's grip. He looked down at the vine whip curled tightly around his torso. Two spirits tugged him back with synchronous pulls on the whip. It hurt to resist, so Jamie went with the tugs.

"He has the right to go where he wants," Jack snapped.

"He'd rather stay here," Cee said as she walked over to Jack. "I gave you three seconds and you didn't let go." She raised a brow and after staring at Jack for a few seconds, kicked him in the crotch.

Jack went down like a stone.

"Cee! You idiot!" Jamie struggled against the whip. "You can't just kick people in the balls!"

"I gave him a warning. Didn't listen." Cee squatted next to Jack who was curled in the fetal position. She said something Jamie couldn't hear that made Jack try to grab her ankle. Cee gracefully leapt over his reach. "No such thing as cheap shots around here."

Jamie loosened the whip enough to shimmy out of it just as Devin returned with Darius. Darius looked no calmer than before Devin walked him out. He looked furious with wind whipping leaves off the ground with each step he took.

Devin looked at the fallen Jack blankly before he took in the condition of the camp. He looked at Cee who was staring at him, daring him to discipline her.

"You did this?" he asked, pointing at Jack.

"Yep."

"Was it deserving or -"

Darius took a large step to Jack and swung his booted foot into Jack's back.

"Darius!" Devin seized Darius's waist sash and wrenched him away.

"Fuggin' a'hole." Jack grabbed his fallen staff and shot a torrent of frost at Darius's face.

Devin stepped in front and took the blow. He clutched as his face silently and stumbled into Darius, knocking the two of them to the ground.

Devin stumbled to his feet, hands trembling. He tripped over one of the benches circling the fire pit and would've fallen into the pit if Leyla hadn't stepped in. She coaxed Devin's hands away from his face. The green tone of her skin became sickly. She let him cover his face up and guided him to the infirmary.

Cee stamped to Jack. "I'm gonna kick you so hard…"

"Cee! No!" Kodi sprinted past Jamie who had also started towards Cee. "You can't!"

"Yeah she can," one of the other spirits said. He rolled the whip back along his arm. "Fuck with Devin you fuck with us."

The other spirits went to Jack. They took the camp's family mentality too far; Jack didn't know what he was getting into. He couldn't be blamed for not understanding the symbolism behind an attack on a leader.

"Guys. Guys. You need to chill." Jamie walked backwards in front of Glen, one of the buffest autumn spirits to exist. Jamie was easily dwarfed, and Glen fell over him like a shadow. "Glen, this isn't right. You can't just team up on him when he's down. It's not fair."

Glen lifted Jamie in the air by his shoulders and set him down on the side. "Cee said it. No such thing as cheap shots."

Kodi shielded Jack from Cee and the approaching spirits. "You're acting just like winter spirits! We're not them! We're autumn!"

"Gee thanks." Jack rolled his eyes. "You and your stereotypes. Not all winter spirits are coldhearted bastards." He winced as he sat up. "But you're right."

Kodi blushed and unsuccessfully tried to keep his smile restrained.

"Kodi's right," Jack said, loud enough that his voice echoed off the trees. "Help me up?" he whispered. Kodi offered a hand and Jack practically crawled onto his body, leaning on him with a pained expression. Kodi blushed harder.

Jamie strangely wanted to poor ice water on Kodi to get rid of the blush.

"What makes you different from us winter spirits if you beat me up. Huh?"

"We're not gonna beat you up. Just slap you around a little and ship you off to North. You don't get it. You don't get what it means to cross Devin. We take it _seriously_. _All_ autumn squads take it seriously. We're very much families in the way you and your winter soldiers aren't." Cee motioned for Kodi to step away. "We can't get him if you're in the way."

"It's wrong." Kodi shook his head. "I don't care about traditions. It's _wrong_."

"Fuck it if it's wrong. If someone else beat Devin around, you'd be all for it. It's just that Frost has a pretty face."

Jack tried to look at Kodi's face; Kodi had tucked his chin in so that his long hair covered his face.

"I wouldn't. It's barbaric and disgusting. Maybe if we all were nice to him-"

"We'd be nice to him if he was nice to us," Darius snapped.

"He hurt Jamie, and Jamie did nothin' to him," Cee said.

"Doesn't mean it's right to beat him."

"Can't we all sit down and talk about this? Less than half the camp is here and I don't think everyone else would agree with this." Jamie pushed through the small half circle of spirits in front of Jack and Kodi.

Glen laughed. "If the rest of camp was here, Frost would be getting his ass whooped."

"Let's be civilized," Kodi said.

"Yeah, 'cause that certainly helped you in your human life," Cee spat.

Kodi flinched. "That's different."

"The difference being life and death."

Kodi slung Jack's arm off his shoulder, his body shaking. "This doesn't have to do with life or death. It has to do with being moral people."

"You're too sensitive. That's what is it. That's why you _died._"

Kodi blinked furiously. All of sudden this wasn't about Jack. This was about Kodi and his past. He had told only Cee about it, and everyone had the respect to leave the topic alone. Something must have happened between the two while Jamie was gone.

Jack touched Kodi's shoulder. "Hey-"

"Hands off!" Darius threw himself on Jack's back, legs clinched around the winter spirit's waist. He howled as he slammed his fist on Jack's head.

Jamie hovered around them. He tried to pry Darius's arms off Jack's neck. Darius snarled and swatted at Jamie's face.

He struck, and Jamie ducked out, cheek bleeding from a shallow cut.

"I'm sorry Kodi. I was so – so upset and I didn't think about what I was saying," Cee was apologizing.

Jamie saw a blur of Kodi running into the forest, Cee after him and another spirit.

Glen flicked his whip at Jack's legs. He crumped to his knees, swinging Darius over his shoulders.

Darius landed on his back with a painful thud and stayed down.

Glen lassoed Jack's wrist and with one yank had Jack on his knees. Blood smeared down from his nose to his mouth.

"Stop it. Stop. Please." Jamie pulled at the whip. "Glen. Please. Let him go."

Glen was in another world. He wound the whip around his wrist until the whip between him and Jack was taut. He worked through Jamie's less than noticeable grip. He snapped it back.

His wrist cracked.

Jack screamed.

He barred his teeth through a tear stained face. His tear tracts froze and frost exploded along the whip.

Glen's entire arm was encased in ice. He howled and fell on his back, clutching at his arm. The whip shattered and tiny bits of sharp ice pelted Jamie. He ducked under his arm, shards cutting his skin.

Someone tackled Jamie to the ground.

Jack screamed curses.

Freezing wind whipped across the camp, leaves and twigs and branches tossing around. The person on top of Jamie shifted so he was shielded.

Frost spread across the ground, coasting over Jamie. He tried to climb out of the protective hold. "Stay down," Devin hissed.

"The hell's going on?" someone shouted. The voice was unfamiliar to Jamie. He crawled out from under Devin.

There was another winter spirit – no, three other winter spirits. The two boys of the group were checking on Jack, touching his wrist that was probably broken and ruffling his hair. One of them pressed his icy blue lips to Jack's.

Jamie grimaced. Was that how they showed affection to their leader?

The third winter spirit was a girl. She laughed at Glen's ice incased arm and toed at it with a bare foot. Her toenails were painted a violent blue.

The spirits were grace and beauty. They were everything winter spirits were said to be: sharply beautiful and coldhearted.

"I told you not to come. Plants are too sensitive. They react to _everything_," the spirit who had kissed Jack purred. He kissed Jack's cheek.

Jack shoved him away. He yanked his arm away from the other spirit. "It's fine." He rubbed his wrist, eyes now on Jamie.

Jamie helped Glen to his feet; Glen was lopsided with one arm weighed down with a block of ice.

He walked Glen to a bench to sit where another spirit, Ruby, tended to his arm. Jamie rushed to Darius who had crawled to a tree. He sat against it, pupils blown and muttering nonsense about his cabinets.

"You've worn out your welcome," Devin said, addressing Jack with no hints of pain in his voice. His face was scratched deeply. From one corner of his forehead across his face to his cheek was a smooth cut beaded with sap. The skin around it was inflamed, and it certainly would leave a scar.

"What happened to your face?" the female winter spirit asked. "Tried to peel your ugly face off?"

"That makes no sense. I'm very handsome." Devin pointed at Jack. "He's no longer welcome here. Leave and take him with you."

"Jamie," Jack said. "I want Jamie."

"Jamie's staying right here where you are never going to be seen again," Devin said.

The winter spirits looked at Jamie. The boys regarded him with cold stares while the girl giggled in a high voice. "That's Jamie? The boy you love? He's nothing but a skinny twig!"

"I'm everything to Jack," Jamie spat. He wouldn't let himself get spoken down. Not by winter spirits who thought they were world.

She ignored him and looked at Jack with a disappointed smile. "Why him? He's so…_bland_?"

"I'll bet that I had more attention than you during my human life!" Jamie's sap boiled in his veins.

She laughed and her companions exchanged amused looks. "I was a _princess_. What were you?"

"I don't know…" Jamie turned his attention back to Darius. His cheeks burned as the girl laughed at him.

Leyla walked out of the infirmary, and halted. She surveyed the frost covered camp and the injured spirits. She pressed a hand to her mouth and cursed. She took one look at Jack and the new winter spirits and her eyebrows furrowed. When she looked at Darius the furrow deepened and she furiously tore her way through the frosted ground, smoothing down the patterns.

She guided Jamie away from Darius and took his place. Jamie told her that Darius had been flipped on his back. "I got this," she said and waved him away. "Give him space."

"Isabelle," Leyla said, "take your friends and leave."

The female winter spirit sighed. "You remember me after all."

Leyla ground her teeth. "Jamie, can you help me take Darius in? Ruby, bring Glen in as well. Devin, try not to tear your sealant."

Jamie purposely looked away from Jack as he helped Leyla. His eyes were tearing up and he didn't have an honest clue why. He didn't want to go out and see Isabelle and the other spirits so he wasted time by situating Darius and Glen in the infirmary. Ruby left, rolling her sleeves as if she intended to get dirty with the winter spirits outside. Leyla went to the bathroom.

Jamie poured a rectangular basin with warm water and put it on a bedside table next to Glen's bed. He told Glen to try to keep his arm balanced inside so the basin wouldn't tip over and then attended Darius who was griping about his clear view of his damaged cabinets.

"Do you know how painful it was to sing it together? It _hurt_ so m-much." He started crying and Jamie drew his privacy curtains shut.

As the curtains settled down from their swishing, stitches became obvious. Jamie fingered the golden threads.

He started crying too.

Glen said his name, but Jamie shook his head and drew Glen's curtains shut. The stitches were more prominent here since they were the curtains closest to Jamie when he had his temper. He looked at the broken cabinets and cried harder.

Leyla watched silently from the bathroom door, her hands wet and her ponytail frizzy and unkempt.

"I wanted change," Jamie blubbered, "but I didn't want _this_."

Something rattled the infirmary's door. Jamie's breath hitched and his tears stopped as the door gave another rattle. It was stronger this time.

"_Oh hell no!_" someone screamed.

Jamie and Leyla looked at each other. "Cee," they said.

#

"What the hell is this? What the _hell_ is this? Who the fuck do you think you are? You can't just _waltz_ in here like you own the place." Cee was screaming at the winter spirits over Kodi's shoulder as he restrained her from rushing at them in a rage. She clawed at Kodi's back and came close to yanking on his leaves.

Cee's return was bad enough. Other spirits were now returning from their shifts, and that made triple the trouble.

"The hell's going on?"

"Winter spirits? _Here?_"

"He should've gone the day he came."

"Isabelle? That _slut_."

Isabelle posted her manicured nails on her hips and slung her ponytail over her shoulder with a snap of her head. "I've been alive for centuries. What can I say?"

"This isn't good," Leyla said. She gently closed the infirmary door behind her.

Jamie said he agreed, and then he saw what particularly made the situation not good. Terrible even. Four more winter spirits coasted down, one of them making a flashy show about his arrival by darting down at a daredevil speed before cushioning his landing.

Like the other three of their kind, their beauty was sharp enough to cut glass and they naturally looked like they held a grudge against everyone.

"Looks like winter came early," Leyla said.

"Duh! Look at all this frost, would ya?" The spirit who had a flash arrival pirouetted, his white coat billowing out. "We might as well just take over Burgess now." He came to a stop and grinned crookedly. "Ugly camp you've got here. Almost as ugly as your faces."

"Good! Because we were preparing if for your arrival!" Cee performed a defensive maneuver on Kodi's hold. She straightened out her t-shirt and tightened her hair.

"Cee." Devin held an open hand out in her direction without turning his head from the eight winter spirits gathered in front. "Is there a meaning for you to call reinforcements in, Jack? Or is this just a show of your most beautiful spirits? Because they all are, quite honestly, atrocious."

"Aren't you the guy I fucked last year?" one of the boys asked. "The one who liked to be spanked?"

The other winter spirits laughed. The autumn spirits bristled.

"Most likely not. I usually carry out the spanking."

Jack brushed away the spirits trying to attend to his wrist. "I'm _fine_." He pushed them away with his good hand. He grabbed his staff and an updraft of wind pushed him to his feet. "Jamie, can we talk?"

The winter spirits who hadn't put a face to his name all looked about the camp wildly for him. Isabelle and other two spirits pointed Jamie out.

Everyone on camp was looking at him.

"He's _kind_ of cute – for an autumn spirit," someone commented.

"You kidding? He's plain like a stick," someone else snickered.

"That's what I said," Isabelle laughed.

"He's beautiful," Devin said. He looked over at Jamie and winked, smiling a smile Jamie rarely saw. "For an autumn spirit, what you would call plain is considered beautiful. It's a shame that you've limited yourself to winter standards."

"He your toy?"

"Oooh. Jack, you've got some competition."

"Is he a screamer?"

Jamie looked down at his boots. He lost any drive to fight for himself. Now he felt disgusted.

"Guys, we're hurting his feelings. Maybe we should shut up."

"Are you serious?"

"The hell? Of course I'm not."

"How about you all shut up and go home?" Ruby said. "Winter doesn't officially start here for a week and a half."

The other autumn spirits started talking back, and it only made Jamie feel worse. He turned around to head back in the infirmary.

"Jamie, please!" Jack shouted over the rising voices of all the spirits.

Jack rose above the spewed hate and heating tension. Unaffected by the vulgarity of his own helpers, he made his way to Jamie. The two sides were getting closer and closer, and a fight was bound to start.

"Keep him back," Jamie told Leyla. She nodded and opened the door for him.

"Wait! Jamie, I want to talk." Jack stopped at the base of the infirmary's steps. "I don't know what happened."

"You bit the bait."

"Cee's a bitch. You've got to understand-"

"I can't believe you. Three chances. You burned through _three _chances in three days."

"Four days; you were knocked out for one of them." Jack smiled, and Jamie was hit with the realization that he was the friendliest of all his present helpers.

"Can you tell your workers to back off? They're being jerks." Jamie pointed at Isabelle who had Kodi cornered against a tree and was cold-bloodedly insulting his choice of clothes.

"They won't listen to me."

"You're their _leader_, a _Guardian_, and you can't control them? Try at least."

"I've tried before."

"You don't deserve any chances if you don't work with them," Leyla said.

"I don't have any chances." Jack meaningfully looked at Jamie; Jamie looked down and chewed on his lip.

"How about you make them?" Leyla raised her eyebrows for a second and then coasted down the steps. "People are going to get hurt if you don't do something about it."

Jamie assessed Jack's reaction. It looked like Jack was contemplating it. At least he wasn't brushing if off. "Maybe you can redeem yourself if you show how – what is she doing?" Jamie's attention was drawn to Kodi and Isabelle. Isabelle had her hand splayed against his cheek, her thumb stroking the skin next to his lips. Kodi was trembling, his hands gripping at the tree trunk.

"She's flirting with him. What's wrong-"

"She's _touching_ him." Jamie pushed past Jack and sprinted over. "Isabelle, don't-"

Kodi slapped her. She slapped him back. He froze up and then slid down the trunk, sobbing uncontrollably into his hands.

Jamie pulled Isabelle away, and she slapped him too.

"Isabelle." Jack grabbed her wrist. "Stop."

Jamie bit the swelling in his cheek and kneeled next to Kodi. He touched his shoulder. "She's not going to touch you any-" Kodi threw himself into Jamie's arms. "-more. You don't have to worry."

"What the fuck's with him?" Isabelle twisted her wrist out of Jack's hand.

"Something to do with his past. I don't know what." Jamie wasn't sure exactly what triggered it, but he thought it had something to do with who the person was and how they touched him. Kodi had once panicked over Jamie hugging him; now he hugged Jamie on a regular basis. "Might have to do with familiarity."

"Pity. He's the cutest autumn spirit here."

"Jack, calm your people down. Devin's doing the best he can with his," Jamie said.

He could hear Devin shouting at Ruby to put down her focus, then screaming at Cee to sheathe her daggers, and knocking benches over to get attention. Devin had never lost control over the camp like this before. Jamie could tell from how Devin's voice was starting to lose its authority. He was starting to sound panicked.

Jack left to help Devin, shouting at his own spirits.

Isabelle sighed. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that people have sad pasts, and it interferes with everything. When I was princess I killed people." She walked away.

A shadow fell over Jamie. "Jack? You can't give up on your people. Ice them down if you have to."

"Wouldn't make a difference. We can break out," the boy said. He was the one who had kissed Jack. He twirled a strand of his curly white hair around a finger and stretched his thin lips into a sneer. "So you're screwing with your leader _and _this kid?"

"He was _triggered_ by one of your idiotic friends. Leave him alone."

"I'm not much interested in him as much as I am in you and Jack. Can I tell you something?"

"If I say 'no' will you leave me alone?"

"Nope."

"Go ahead."

"Jack's mine. You have no place with him," he said and leaned over Jamie, cruel eyes narrowing into beady slits, "dirt eater."

"Go 'way," Kodi mumbled. He choked on a sob and burrowed his face deeper into Jamie's neck. His cool tears moistened Jamie's neck.

"Please go away. You're upsetting up." Jamie swallowed through the knot in his throat and then stroked Kodi's long hair and hummed softly.

The boy shrugged and looked longingly towards the screaming spirits. He said Jack's name softly, almost lovingly. He turned a disgusted eye on Kodi. "Anything for the crybaby."

When he skipped into the camp's center, kicking over a bench and slapping Ruby's bottom, Kodi said, "I w-want them gone."

"Me too, Kodi. Me too." Jamie kissed Kodi's temple.

Jamie didn't think Jack summoned his helpers.

They must have been scoping their future campsite when they came across Jack. All spirits scoped before seasons changed.

Cee screamed, her voice heard above the shouts of everyone else, and someone cried out. The noise level exploded and the temperature dropped.

Wind ruffled Jamie's hair and stirred Kodi's limp leaves.

It started to snow.

The fight had started.

"Let's go." Jamie stood with Kodi still latched onto him. A wave of frost struck them. He lost his balance and stumbled. Kodi let go, turned, and sprinted into the forest.

"Wait!" Jamie ran after him.

#

Jamie tailed Kodi for a minute. Kodi shouted that he needed time alone and took off into the sky. He wasn't a fan of flying, so he must have really wanted to be alone. Jamie slowed to a walk and watched Kodi disappear.

He didn't want to head back. If there was a fight going on… He sighed. He had heard stories of fights between the different seasons. Humans sometimes called them unpredictable weather patterns.

Fights weren't very common, but they weren't rare either. Jamie had witnessed a few arguments between autumn and summer; never anything with winter. Winter was isolated from autumn, especially during the years after Jack Frost went wild.

"Hey! Jamie! What's up?"

Jamie looked over his shoulder just as a powerful wind lifted him off the ground. He crashed through a cluster of pine trees before someone caught him.

Curly Hair smiled at him. "I can't believe I'm touching you. You're filthy. Like dirt."

"Put me down. Please." Jamie hated to look weak, but floating twenty feet in the air – and rising – was too much to stay quiet about. He wrapped his arms around Curly Hair's neck. "Put me down – _gently_, please."

"You're afraid of heights?" Curly Hair cooed. "That's adorable. Did you cling to Jack every time he flew you? Like a damsel in distress?"

"Put me down please."

Then there was a boom, like something had exploded right behind them.

Curly Hair whirled around, almost dropping Jamie.

A hole had opened in the sky. Its edges were warped and swarming in a ring, the inside of it sparkling black. Colors appeared, becoming the defined shape of North and his reindeer.

"What?" Curly Hair laughed. "North?"

Jamie tugged on Curly Hair's snow white locks. "We're in the way!"

The reindeer slammed into them.

Curly Hair dropped Jamie.

* * *

**A/N: **un'beta'd. Will be beta'd by **Shattered Equilibrium** later on.

If it seems rushed, it's only because I _need_ the action to get along. I move fast.

Reviews por favor. Special thanks to all you readers and reviewers. :)

Sorry for the long wait. Sorry for the cliffhanger. NOT sorry for the drama.

It's my headcanon that winter spirits are (typically) meaner than Jack. And Jack has little control over them.


	5. Chapter 5

Faces

* * *

Strangely all Jamie could think of was how much he was starting to hate heights and how idiotic he was for never taking Cee or Kodi up on flight lessons. Then the ground spiraled closer and closer and Jamie's mind gave him a break. _Now_ he started to panic.

He had never attempted flight before. All he knew was that flight was just a manipulation of the wind. He crossed his arms over his head, shut his eyes, and thought of the wind around him. He imagined the multitude of differing wind vectors and bundled them until they pushed up.

Up he went.

Jamie shot up, pin-wheeling, breath caught in his throat He slammed into Curly Hair and grasped for a hold, kicking his legs out for a waist to wrap around.

"The hell?" Curly Hair bucked wildly. They freefell and then jerked to the right, slamming into a tree.

They dropped again and Jamie tried to conjure a wind vector to push them up again. He smacked his head on a tree branch. The vector blasted them against the tree.

Curly Hair screamed at Jamie to quit it and flew them up, through branches and pines. Curly Hair adjusted their trajectory so that Jamie got the most hits.

Jamie clawed at Curly Hair's face and tried to roll them so that he was under, but the branches tearing at him wore him out until all he could manage to do was press his face into Curly Hair's silky mane.

They finally broke through the top. The receding sunlight still blinded Jamie when he opened his eyes. Curly Hair bit Jamie's arm that had been wrapped around Curly Hair's neck. Sap leaked through the bite mark.

Jamie let go when Curly Hair ground his teeth into the bite, and suddenly he was falling through the tree branches again. His vision went black and blue and white and yellow. He tried to fly again, but every time he got a hold on the wind he knocked his head hard enough to lose thought of everything but pain and darkness.

When he came to, the sun had set lower and the sky was in its last phase before it faded into the dark blue of the evening.

He moved his body one inch and one body part at a time. Everything hurt as he expected. He groaned. It didn't hurt as much as it did after Jack's ice slide through the forest. The fall from the tree should've hurt more. He left it to the explanation that his body had gotten used to beatings and was adapting to rougher handlings.

Curly Hair wasn't there. He was the one who got hit by the reindeer. Shouldn't he have been knocked out? Jamie had only gotten a hoof to the shoulder and he could feel it throbbing as if it had a heart of its own.

It would've been nice if Curly Hair was fragile like the ice he represented and shattered into a million pieces from the lightest hit.

Jamie entertained himself with absurd images of Curly Hair shattering into ice shards. His mind was alleviated of his pain for a few minutes until the pulsing of his shoulder seemed to melt into the rest of his body. Now his whole body felt like a heart, pulsing to the beat of the prickles of pain.

Where was everybody? Why hadn't anyone come to find him? It must've been over an hour since he left.

What was North doing there anyways? He just popped out from the middle of nowhere, ran right into two spirits, and then went on his own way. Christmas wasn't even due for months.

"Jamie?" someone shouted. It sounded like Ruby. "Jamie! Where are you?"

"Here!" Jamie shouted. Pain lanced through his throat. He shouted again. "Here!"

Jamie was tucked between the tree trunk and a half dead bush. He blended in with the bush's orange and brown leaves and the tree's bark, so if someone had been searching for him, they would've had difficulty.

Leaves crunched and twigs snapped. "Jamie?" Ruby was closer.

"Here! Bush and tree! Ground." Jamie swished spit through his mouth to remoisten it. "Here!"

Ruby found him after noisily slapping aside tree branches and tripping over unseen rocks and branches. "The whole camp's looking for you," she said, hands flitting over Jamie's body as if she wanted to touch him but knew she couldn't. "I'm no medic, but how bad does it feel?"

"Numb."

"How bad compared to before?"

"Less painful."

Ruby nodded. "Leyla said you haven't had any serious injuries before, so your body didn't know how to treat it."

"That's what I thought. I just need to adapt."

"Yeah… Just don't hurt yourself too much. Let it happen, naturally."

"Naturally let myself get hurt. That's fabulous." Jamie found that he could move his hands without much pain. He flexed his fingers until the stiffness faded, and then did the same with his toes. "Curly Hair did this to me."

"Curly Hair? You mean Nightlight, that guy who keeps pressing up against Frost?" Ruby snorted after Jamie nodded. "I don't know who's worse, him or Isabelle."

"_Nightlight?_" Jamie had heard about Nightlight, the majestic boy who had served as Manny's Guardian ages ago. Everyone had said that Nightlight was dead. He had died after sacrificing himself to defeat Pitch.

"Not the cool one. He just copied the name. Everyone calls him Night. I'm going to look for Leyla. Will you be alright by yourself?"

Jamie now could shift his arms and legs with trifling pain. Maybe after a few minutes he'd be able to sit. He nodded, feeling some of his leaves tear away. "Yup."

While Ruby ran to get Leyla, Jamie tried moving his arms and legs. He could move one arm slowly. The other arm screamed every time he tried to cross it over his body. He hoped it wasn't bruised too bad, or was in too bad of a condition.

He broke off the thin branches growing behind each ear. It hurt almost as much as tearing a hangnail. He rolled his head experimentally without the obstruction of twigs and was overly relieved to feel no pain.

Maybe his body was adapting quickly.

Testing it out, he sat up – and fell back down with a choked off cry.

More minutes passed and Ruby didn't return. He didn't hear anyone shouting out his name either. Ruby had probably lied about the camp looking for him.

Jamie imagined North at the camp, striking everyone into similar states of captivation of his high status. Oh he was of high status. High enough to run two spirits over without apology (even though one of the two totally deserved it).

"Jamie?" Ruby was back with Leyla – and Jack.

"Jamie? Who did this?" Jack knelt close enough to Jamie's body for his chill to spread over Jamie. He grasped Jamie's hand and Jamie flinched, expecting to feel sharp pain, not the calming cold that swept through his body.

The cold was like a cup of refreshing water after a loaded day of maintaining the weather. Jamie shuddered. Jack interpreted it as pain. He leaned over Jamie's face. "Who did this?"

"Your boyfriend," Jamie quipped. "The one who likes kissing you and thinks you're his."

"Night." Jack looked deep in thought. "I'll be back." Jack leapt into the air with a concentrated burst of wind that barely stirred Jamie's hair or rumpled tunic. He'd need to get it washed and stitched again.

Ruby went back to camp to help tidy up. Jamie asked Leyla about what had happened while he was out as she cleaned his scratches and cuts on his face and arms with creams that burned.

"North broke the fight up. He skidded through the clearing and knocked half the tents down – yours too. He said Manny told him to intervene – also that a spirit of interest was there." Leyla rubbed the excess cream all over Jamie's exposed skin. "Can you move your arms and legs?"

Jamie shifted them one at a time to show all angles of mobility.

"That's pretty good. You'll just have to rest, again. Not as bad as before, eh?" She helped Jamie sit up slowly. "Overtime your body will become accustomed to harsh treatment. You're still a new spirit. Though two beatings in less than a week…" She winced as if she could understand the pain.

Curious by her sympathetic tone, Jamie asked, "How about you? How many beatings did you take?"

"Not beatings. I just broke an arm or leg or sprained my ankles and wrists. Small things over time that built up to where I fall twenty feet from the sky and suffer only mild bruises. If you did the same thing…you wouldn't be walking away."

"I'd be dead."

"Hush. Let's see if you can walk and then get you over to camp. The winter spirits left and North is still here. He wants to talk to you."

"Good or bad?"

"That's for you to decide. He knows you from your past life."

#

The camp was in shambles. As Leyla had said, half of the tents were knocked down. The other half were untouched, though two of them had been torn from their wooden stakes. The personal belongings in the un-rooted tents were scattered all over the campsite, the benches around the fire pit now meters away from their original locations.

Everyone was working to hammer the tents back in place and toss belongings into fabric baskets. So the camp_ hadn't_ been looking for him.

Jamie felt a little hurt, especially that Cee and Kodi hadn't joined the search. Maybe they had been ordered to stay back.

Kodi noticed Jamie and tapped Cee's shoulder. Cee connected gazes with Jamie, and despite his rugged look and his limp, she didn't look concerned. Jamie smiled. She glared and shook her head before hammering the tent's spoke with harsher blows.

Kodi smiled and twiddled his fingers at Jamie. He mouthed a greeting.

Jamie couldn't wave back; he was using Leyla as a crutch. He smiled instead. Kodi seemed fine. His alone time in the forest seemed to do him good. If only he'd gone out to look for Jamie…

"Where's North?" Jamie asked.

"Here." Leyla helped him up the steps to the infirmary. She deposited him on the last remaining infirmary bed. "He's probably in the bathroom." She went to the other end of the infirmary and went through one of the skinny cabinets.

The privacy curtains for all the beds were drawn. Glen's arm was ice free and now it was wrapped in a thick towel soaked with something that smelled of flowers.

On the other bed Darius was sleeping, his branches trimmed so short that Jamie felt bad; Darius loved his branches. While they were irritating to the other spirits, Darius found them wonderful. He often liked to decorate them with ribbons.

"Again?" Glen asked, looking over Jamie's beat body as if it was already a normal occurrence.

"That curly haired freak did it." Rage sudden boiled in Jamie's stomach at the recollection of kiss Night gave Jack.

"Did you hit him back?"

"Didn't get a chance. North freaking ran us over with his sleigh. Didn't bother to see if we were alright. Don't even think he saw us." Jamie chuckled. "Lousy driver."

"Hey!" a deep voice rumbled from the bathroom. "I can hear you!" The voice was deep and accented. Russian, Jamie thought.

"Is that…" Jamie pointed at the bathroom.

Leyla laughed and closed the cabinet with her hip. "That's North. He has a bit of a bowel problem."

North said something about elves and cookies. Jamie didn't hear clearly because Leyla had tossed an infirmary garb on his lap. It was _tiny_. It barely passed as anything longer than a large t-shirt.

"I'm not wearing this," Jamie said. Glen laughed and Jamie gave him a mouthful of wind. "It's too short!"

"I only got cream on your face and arms. I need to get the rest of your body."

Glen looked away as Leyla helped Jamie out of his clothes. She was one of the few spirits who Jamie felt comfortable around. Being a medic, she had seen many things, and Jamie was just another naked boy.

"Don't come out of the bathroom," Jamie shouted at the bathroom.

"No worries. I will be in here for many minutes."

Glen lay on his side, his back to Jamie, and then laughed. "I'll be trying to sleep…"

Leyla took her time with smothering Jamie in cream. He didn't recall being coated so liberally before. His injuries had been more extreme, and his cuts had been deeper. They were still healing over.

"Why so much?" Jamie asked.

"Your scabs from before opened up. Add that to your new scrapes." She finished with a long stripe down his leg. "All done!" She stepped back.

That was when the infirmary door slammed open and Jack stepped in.

"Why?" Jamie moaned in his head. "_Why?_"

He pressed the garb between his legs. "Terrible timing," Jamie spat.

Jack was frozen, his eyes the only things moving. Jamie could feel an icy trail traveling down his chest to his legs.

Glen was staring too, not at Jamie, thank Manny, but at Jack. "How's your wrist?" Glen asked.

Jamie noticed for the first time that Jack had a splint on it. The staff slipped in his other hand and struck the ground with a hollow thunk.

"Um… Um… I… Looks good – I mean feels good. My wrist." Jack held his wrist up, attention still on Jamie's body. Jamie noticed the splint was made with a traditional autumn design. He tossed his staff at the wall. It would have fallen if a thin ring of ice didn't suddenly appear, stapling it to the wall.

"Leyla gave that to you?" Jamie asked, hunching his shoulders forward to curl his chest in. Jack's eyes went to the visible ridges of Jamie's spine. "Can you look away? Be a gentleman…"

"O-oh right. Sorry." Jack turned and then looked over his shoulder. "And yeah. Leyla gave me it. Thanks." Jack smiled at Leyla.

"How about you look away?" Jamie said.

"What is going on?" North asked.

Jamie shoved the garb on. The hem barely reached his knees when he sat. He pulled it down, beginning to hate Leyla. She smiled at him the way a friend smiles at another when they did something they thought was beneficial.

"Let your arms and legs air out. They took the most of your beating." She attended to Glen who grinned over her shoulder Jamie. Jamie flipped him the bird and scooted to the headboard of his bed.

Jack quietly sat on the foot of Jamie's bed, face still red and pupils blown.

Hormones. Jamie scoffed and crossed his legs in a pretzel, tucking his shirt under his knees.

#

North was intimidating on first sight. The old man actually played it to his advantage. For all his childish speak in the bathroom and weak appearance for having bowel problems, his physical presence stopped Jamie's heart in mid-beat.

"Jamie Bennett," he boomed as he walked down the narrow aisle. "I have heard much about you." He rolled his sleeves up, slowly as if showing off the black ink on his forearms.

Jamie gulped. "Good things I hope."

"Really good things," Jack said. He smiled and Jamie looked away before he could get his attention tethered to how Jack's face suddenly softened in the most charming way.

"You may not remember me, but I remember you just like I remember my cookie recipes." North scowled and rubbed his large belly. "I should have known something was wrong with the cookies from first bite."

And just like that, North went from intimidating old man to deceiving old man. "They are working on new batch for you, Jamie. S'mores, your favorite. I will send them when they are done."

Jamie had never eaten s'mores.

"North," Jack said and when he got the old man's attention, he shook his head.

North apologized. He tugged down his large sleeves. "Jack, you need more control over your soldiers." He shrugged into the heavy red coat that Jamie had thought was a blanket draped over Darius's bed.

"They're not soldiers. They're workers, helpers, like your elves and yetis." Jack brought his legs up to the bed and sat like Jamie. His right knee brushed against Jamie's cloth covered one. "And I can't control them all."

Jack hadn't even _tried_, Jamie remembered. All he had done was sit impassively on the ground with his broken wrist and stared at Jamie.

"You can control most. They look up to you. You are _Guardian_. All spirits look up to Guardians."

Jack's thoughtful face looked down at his lap. He raised it sideways to look at Jamie. He smiled with crooked charm.

Jamie ducked his eyes and fiddled with his shirt tent. "Um, is that it? You only came to break the fight up?"

"I also come to say hello. You look very different from last time I saw you."

"He was human," Jack said.

"Yes, but the last time I saw him he was wee little boy."

"He was sixteen. He was eighteen when he…left. Two years doesn't change much." A shadow passed over Jack's face.

"But five does. And seven is nearly decade." North looked at Jack. A moment passed between them, one where Jack became ashamed of whatever invisible thing transpired between them.

Leyla checked over Glen's wrapped arm. She spoke to him in a low voice about tending his frostbitten skin.

"You changed too," North said.

No duh. Jack went _loco_ according to the other spirits. For over half a decade Jack became the violent force behind every winter season. Winters all over the world were harsher than ever before. It was unpredicted and human meteorologists were lost in their notes and calculations. The first year humans were terrified, but now it was just accepted that winter had taken several notches up in ferocity.

Jamie couldn't read Jack's half visible face. Jack had looked away, the backs of his ears turning blue.

Leyla discharged Glen. He stopped in front of Jack on his way out. "I'm sorry about the wrist. Mob mentality will kill you. Literally."

"No biggie. I'll heal up before the night's over. You didn't break it _that _much." Jack winked.

Glen, who Jamie rarely saw soften up with a quiet laugh, did just that. He left with Leyla following him. She said she would look for spare clothes for Jamie to wear.

It was just Jamie, Jack, North, and the snoozing Darius. Devin's commanding voice was a muffled vibration through the door. Other than that and the barely heard commotion of movement outside, it was quiet.

North returned to the bathroom, asking if there was air freshener. Jamie told him to look in the bathroom cabinets and then made a face at Jack. "Seriously?" he mouthed.

"Can't blame an old man for having gas problems," Jack said.

"It's the smell I'm worried about." Jamie's tunic was starting to ride over his legs. He pulled them down again.

"You don't have to keep doing that. You have nice legs."

"_Please._" Jamie rolled his eyes.

"Are you really that uncomfortable with them?"

"I'm not. I just don't like you looking at them."

"I won't do anything. But you really do have nice legs. You used to run a lot and it looks like your muscles have kept their shape."

An uneasy feeling compelled Jamie to say, "I still run."

"Do you fly?"

"Not yet." Jamie wanted to tell Jack about the shot in the air he had done when Night dropped him, but compared to the spirits who could fly, it was messy and nothing special. It was like a baby's first step – except it wasn't commemorative.

"Do you need someone to teach you?"

Jamie nodded.

"I can teach you. It's not too hard to fly if you have control over wind. You have pretty good control from what I've seen."

Jamie met Jack's warm gaze, forgetting about the tunic that had risen up to his thighs. "You could teach me?"

"Why not? I've taught many winter spirits how to fly. It can't be different to teach an autumn spirit."

"Do your methods involve dropping me from insane heights?" It seemed like a method Jack would use.

Jamie thought of his plummet from Night's arms and twitched. For the briefest moment before he thought of trying to fly, he thought he was going to crash. It had been very brief, so brief that he wondered if he had felt it at all or if it was just the feel of his stomach flying into his throat.

Jack's denim clad knee rubbed against Jamie's bare one as he reached over his shoulder to scratch his neck. Jamie held his breath.

They were closer than before. Or had Jamie never thought of it before?

Jack could lean over and kiss him in two seconds if he threw himself at Jamie. And why was Jamie thinking of this?

"I usually do that with the stubborn ones. As long as you don't give me a hard time I won't do anything like that." Jack sensed Jamie's hesitation and dropped his hand on Jamie's knee. Jamie's insides turned to mushy liquid that reminded him of the morning's less-than-delicious slush. "Your skin kind of looks like bark. There are faint lines on it, like the lines on bark."

Jamie stretched his legs out and Jack scooted to make room for them. Jamie pulled the hem of his tunic down to mid-thigh. "We all have them. They're more noticeable on some of us." He stretched an arm out. "I have them on my arms too, but they're really light."

"Can I see?" Jack held his hands under Jamie's arm. Jamie swallowed thickly and nodded. He laid his arm on Jack's open palms.

Jack moved closer, and lifted Jamie's arm to his face. He studied the vertical lines and ran his fingers over them. "They have ridges," he observed.

"Like bark."

"Spring spirits are more like flowers. They're all green. Autumn spirits are mostly brown but some are green and orange and golden."

"Are you still hurt?"

How? Emotionally or physically? Jamie shrugged, trying to hide the pleasure he got from Jack's vocal concern and gentle handling of his body. _Arm_, Jamie reminded himself; it felt like the care Jack give his arm was directed at his entirety. "I'm still sore, like after a long day of running and climbing trees and working out, but it doesn't hurt."

"You heal fast." Jack looked at Jamie as if he expected an explanation that wasn't the norm.

Jamie wondered if his fast healing _was_. It hadn't taken him a long time to heal from his forest trip. Putting aside Leyla's explanation for adaptation, it didn't fit in logic that Jamie already felt like he had never been smacked by trees. "It's the cream and the pain reducers Leyla gave me. They really amp up the healing process."

Leyla returned with a bundle of tan clothes, and a deep scowl. "Frost, one of your soldiers wants to file a complaint." She gave Jamie the bundle and then checked up on Darius.

Night walked in with Cee at his back, her blazing gaze seeking Jamie's.

"What are you still doing here?" Jack sounded irritated and tired. "I told you to go back to camp."

Night lifted his cuffed wrists. The handcuffs were made of thick ice, tainting blue and emitting a soft glow. "I tried leaving but these stupid cuffs won't let me fly." The whole time Night was glaring at Jamie. He looked at Jack's hands on Jamie's arm and sounded his disgust. Cee did the same.

"What do you mean you can't fly?" Jack asked, putting Jamie's arm down.

"I mean I _can't fly_. It's like these things are neutralizers. I can't even make frost appear. I feel _human_ and it's _pathetic._ Take these off." Night marched to the bed and stuck his wrists at Jack.

"You're being punished. I'm not taking them off. But I didn't expect it to neutralize your powers…" Jack looked pleased. "But it's good to know."

Jamie felt like he was getting mowed down internally by Cee's stare.

"But I hate it. I feel so _weak_. I can't do _anything._" Night's tough appearance melted and now he looked like what he truly felt: scared and lost. "I'll take another punishment. I can't handle being grounded. Don't you know what it's like to not be able to fly?" He pointedly looked at Jamie. "You can't fly. How does it feel?"

Jamie shrugged evasively. "I'm doing fine. I don't see the problem."

"He won't be flightless for long. I'll be teaching him tomorrow," Jack said.

Horror crossed Night's face and Cee shook her head violently, ponytail swishing in an angry whip. "No," she said. "_No._"

"You're not my mother," Jamie said. "You can't tell me what not to do. And I don't get what your problem is. You've been bitchy this entire day."

"Because you don't know who you're getting involved with. You don't know _what_ you're getting involved with. Haven't you listened to what everyone's saying about Frost? It's not good stuff."

"I agree with the green stick," Night said, and Cee raised a brow in disgust. "You don't know Jack."

"Go." Jack pointed resolutely at the door. "Now. Both of you."

"You can't control me." Night turned his head, his jaw a hard and stubborn line.

"_NOW._"

The cuffs flashed a bright blue and Night yelped, stumbling backwards into Cee. "F-fine!" Night spat in a wet voice. He turned around, bumping into Cee who looked as shocked and angry as he did. "Get out of my way you filthy twig." He shoved her aside.

"Tell the others to get to work or they'll have their own set of cuffs," Jack said. The door slammed shut with wind. "I have no idea how I did that," Jack laughed.

"It's not funny," Cee said. "You have no control."

Jack's eyebrows dropped to a smooth line. "I do. I just thought that I needed my staff as a focus. Looks like I don't."

"What about the cuffs?"

"Pretty cool if you ask me. I thought he'd be able to melt those off."

"You are Guardian, Jack." The bathroom door finally opened. The toilet flushed in the background and Jamie almost laughed at how ridiculous it was. "You can do things that no other spirit can."

Silence – except for the toilet.

"I can't take you seriously. The toilet's kind of ruining the moment," Jack said.

Jamie laughed through his clamped lips, sputtering until his lungs burned. "S-sorry!"

The toilet continued to swirl.

"That's strange…" Leyla went to go check on it.

"I can bring elves to check on it," North said, squeezing through the doorway after her. "They do not mind to get dirty."

#

Jack stayed with Jamie after Cee left with an indignant turn on her heels. They managed to stay away from small talk. North left shortly after promising to bring Jamie a nice pair of customized and traditional autumn clothes. Leyla sprayed the bathroom continuously with air freshener, laughing about how North managed to clog the toilet up without any toilet paper. Then she said that he dropped a small toy inside. Nobody asked how it got in the toilet.

Leyla discharged Jamie after a thorough check on his bruises. Jack politely looked away without being asked.

It was early night when they stepped outside and the camp was already cleaned. About half the camp was still outside doing work; Jamie suspected some were scanning for any winter spirits in the surrounding premises.

Jack still received dirty looks, but no one attacked him. Devin waved at them from the opening of his tent, the flaps peeled back to reveal the organized interior. A lamp illuminated the inside with a dim hue.

"Sleepy?" Jack asked, catching Jamie's lingering look. Jamie thought he heard something akin to bitter jealousy.

Jack waved back at Devin with creased brows.

"I want to check on my tent," Jamie said, "but Cee's probably inside with Kodi and I don't want to deal with her right now."

"She has reason to hate me."

"She was fine with you before. Now she's so prickly about you."

"People change." Jack stuffed a hand in his pocket, frowning up at the first star to appear in the sky. "She'll change her opinion of me after she sees that I'm not the same guy as the stories say I am."

They sat on a campfire bench, thighs close enough to brush if they spread their legs far enough.

"How long are you going to have Night cuffed?" It sounded brutal to be grounded once one learned how to fly. Being powerless added to the cruel factor.

"I already broke the cuffs. When he left I shattered them."

"Do you usually punish them?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm passive. Weak. I never wanted to lead thousands of spirits. After I became Guardian, the leaders of the different winter camps presented their leadership to me. I wanted them to keep it. Years later, when you left, I accepted their leadership and became the ultimate leader. I had the same camp layouts, just altered some things. We already had a deal with the other seasons to rotate out of campsites."

"So you're the leader but you don't exercise your right."

"I do, just…weakly. I didn't really care. Now I do."

"Why?"

"Because maybe I want to impress you and the other Guardians?" Jack grinned. Someone lit the bonfire and the light washed over Jack's smooth skin and reflected off his white teeth. "I haven't been close to them for years. After you died, it was all blues for me and I didn't want to talk to anyone. The Guardians tried to comfort me but I blew them off. Now that you're here, all I want to do is be a better person. For you and Guardians and the kids and _everyone_."

Jack slid the splint off his wrist and experimentally twisted it. "Pitch said that I made a mess of everything. And it's true. I do, but it's alright 'cause I'm gonna clean it all up." He put the splint at his side. "I'm starting right now. Wiping clean the slate, as North puts it."

"And how are you starting?"

"First I'm going to write a constitution for the winter spirits." Jamie stared. "I'm kidding! I'm a lousy writer. First I'm going to make it clear that no winter spirits are to interfere with autumn spirits while fall is still in session. Anyone who doesn't listen will get their own personalized cuff."

"With the same effects as Night's?"

"Uh… Depending on the extent of their actions. If it doesn't work, I could always lock them in a cell or something."

"No offence, but I'm starting to think of you as a dictator." Jamie laughed.

Jack folded his arms across his chest. "Alright then. What do you suggest?"

"Talk to Devin."

"That's it?"

"I'm not a leader. I don't know anything about this." Jamie ran a hand though his hair. "Or…you could talk to the camp leaders about what you'd like to see. _They're_ leaders. They know what to do."

"Looking at the spirits who just visited your camp, would you say their leaders really know what to do?"

"Look at Devin. He's a great leader, yet his camp is filled with racist spirits who snap back with violence."

"Then there are the sweethearts like you and Kodi and that buff dude from the infirmary. Your medic, too."

They fell into a period of silence, smiles on their mouths and in their eyes.

"So are we up for flight lessons tomorrow?" Jack asked.

"As long as you don't throw me off a cliff of anything."

"I once did that. I took a student to the Alps and-"

"Jack…" Jamie warned teasingly. Jack leaned back, shock evident in his slackened jaw. "What?"

"You called me 'Jack'. Until now you used my last name," Jack said with breathless happiness.

"Oh yeah? Well…I just got sick of calling you 'Frost'. 'Jack' sounds better." Jamie unconsciously played with his hair. He was _burning_ inside and out, and not from the fire in front of them. It wasn't easy to spot Jamie's blushes because they blended in with his dark skin, but even in the dark and with the terrible lighting of the fire, he felt like Jack could see the color splotching his cheeks.

"Can I sit with you guys?" a soft voice asked behind them.

They both gasped and lurched away from each other. Jamie realized with a start that Jack had been leaning in. "S-sure!" Jamie scooted closer to Jack, meaning for Kodi to sit on the outside. Kodi stepped over the space between them and plopped down silently.

Silence.

Jamie fiddled with his hands, rubbing his scabs, and then checked out the embroidered hems on his borrowed tunic. It was Kodi's traditional one: the fancy one he wore to his naming ceremony.

"I'm going to use the bathroom," Jack suddenly said. He rolled his staff onto the top of his foot and kicked it up to his hand.

"Is he upset?" Kodi asked, tilting his head innocently. Jamie wondered if Kodi had meant to interrupt them. Had Cee talked Kodi into it?

Jamie couldn't see her anywhere in camp. "Maybe. I don't know," he said. "I'm going to our tent."

"Aren't you going to wait for Frost?" Kodi asked.

Jamie didn't think Jack would come back, but he sat back down and waited with Kodi. They stared at the dancing flames in front of them making small talk. Kodi tilted his head on Jamie's shoulder. "Tired?" Jamie asked.

"No. I just need someone to lean on."

Jamie could sense something behind that, but he wasn't in the mood for supportive talk, so he nodded and let Kodi lean on him.

"Are you still hurting?" Kodi asked.

"I feel great actually."

"Hmmm. Glen said that you looked like shit when you went in. You look fine now."

"It's the healing cream." Leyla _had_ put half a jar's worth of cream on him. "And it's dark. You can't see anything."

"Whatever. You know Isabelle? She and Leyla are lesbians for each other."

Jamie chuckled and shook his head slowly so he wouldn't displace Kodi's head from his shoulder. "Where'd you hear that?"

"I didn't hear it from anyone. I'm just saying. Isabelle looked like she knew Leyla. _Knew_ her. Like _knew knew_ her."

"Are you sure you aren't tired? You're slurring your words."

A yawn shuddered Kodi's body. He slid away from Jamie and curled onto his side, laying his head in Jamie's lap.

"You're going to fall off the bench," Jamie chastised.

"I won't." Kodi closed his eyes.

Jamie sighed and rested his hand on Kodi's head. He shifted his fingers through Kodi's hair, combing away the tiny rocks and bits of twig that collected there after days of no bathing.

"I love you," Kodi mumbled when Jamie thought he had fallen asleep.

"Love you, too," Jamie returned. Kodi slept soundly until Jamie decided to return him to their tent.

On his bed was a basket with a package wrapped in a blanket. Jamie put Kodi to bed and then went to his mattress and unwrapped the package in the dim light of their lamp.

There was a small cotton bag of s'more cookies and Jamie's green scarf with the embroidered "JB". He sat heavily on the mattress and nibbled on a cookie. He had finished a third of it when there was a white flash.

_Cookies. Lots of them. Many varieties, but Jamie was only interested in one. He snatched the s'mores flavored one. "Those are the only ones you eat!" Jack complained._

_Grasslands and flowers. More cookies. This time they were all s'more flavored. Jamie hugged Jack and thanked him over and over again._

_A bedroom with dark blue walls. Papers scattered on the bed, large books flipped to charts and graphs. "I got the stuff," Jack said. He crawled in through a window. He tossed a baggy of cookies at the bed. It landed on an open book. It was filled with s'more cookies._

"_It's the only sweet you eat!" Jack complained. Jamie laughed and stuffed another cookie in his mouth._

_A mountain of s'mores cookies on the table. Jamie's jaw dropped open. "All for you," Jack said. "Just kidding. We're packaging them for Christmas. Don't eat any or you'll be on the Naughty List." Jamie punched Jack's arm. "I'm the Brightest Light," Jamie said. "I'm immune from the Naughty List."_

Jamie gasped and rolled off his mattress. He sat up, fingers digging into his scalp and steadying his head. It felt like everything was spinning, but the room was still. Kodi was sitting on his own mattress, staring at Jamie with wide eyes.

"Flashback," Jamie said, "I…I remember now."

"Everything?" Kodi sat forward.

"No. I just… I loved s'more cookies as a child and I apparently was friends with Jack. I went to the North Pole with Jack and there was mountain of cookies and I said I was the Brightest Light." Jamie started crying. He rubbed at his eyes even though it did nothing to stop his tears. They kept coming and he didn't even know why.

"Brightest Light? That means you're the Last Light too. The last believer when Pitch had his rise."

Jamie laughed. "Now I can rub it in Isabelle's face. Last Light trumps princess anytime."

"But why are you crying?" Kodi kneeled in front of Jamie. He took Jamie's face in his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Aren't you happy?"

"I am. I don't know why I'm crying. I just – after five years of the same shit." Jamie laughed and squeezed out more tears. "Things are finally changing."

"They started changing ever since Jack got here." Kodi smiled. "Maybe if you kiss him the rest of your memories will come back."

Jamie stopped crying.

"Your tears stopped." Kodi did a little cheer.

"That's not funny," Jamie said.

But it made sense.

* * *

**A/N: **un'beta'd

The award for Worst Chapter (So Far) goes to chapter 4.

I'm sorry that it isn't my best. Keep in mind that this is the sequel to "Forgotten Future" (did I ever tell you that officially?) and though it can be read as a standalone, it can help to read "Forgotten Future".

It has been five years since Jamie died. The two years before Jamie died, Jack was avoiding him. Both Jack and Jamie are now 18.

_Things happened in those seven years. Those things shaped who Jack now is. This is why Jack is OOC._

There's also situational behavior. If Jack acts weird for a situation – or _any_ character – it's possibly due to a past experience. Remember, some spirits already remember their pasts. I won't explain all their pasts, but you'll get some hints if you pay attention to their behavior in certain situations and comments. Ex: Glen's "joke" about mob mentality.

On the other hand, _wow_. I never expected people to write huge paragraphs on this. I'm grateful for your time spent typing reviews. I'll keep your criticism in mind with future chapters.

Next bennefrost multi-chapter story is a high school AU. Don't worry. I'll make it different from the others. ;)

Check out Kat's tumblr: **frosted-cocoa** (she posts all her bennefrost fanart here) and Klaudia's **angelwhoisinlovewithyou** (look at her "my art" tag for quick searching. There's also Supernatural art ^^). Thanks to Nolan ( **allthatisslashyandgood **- gotta love the URL) for being supportive and huggling me when I was feeling down.

I seriously hope this chapter is better. I'm crossing my fingers.


	6. Chapter 6

Taking Chances

* * *

Jamie dreamed of kissing Jack and receiving his memories, and then kissing Jack and getting nothing back. He dreamed of owning a tragic backstory that was better off forgotten again, and then he dreamed of owning one so sweet that it too was better off kicked to the back of his mind – better yet, out and never to be revisited again; Jamie would feel such nostalgia for his past that he would plead for Manny to free his spirit.

He woke up with a headache that made him feel like his ears were being compressed into his head. Kodi was getting dressed, and the rustle of his clothes were what had woken Jamie. It was still dark out, either still night or the first hours of morning.

Kodi stilled after Jamie groaned as if he had been caught doing something secret, but all he was doing was tugging his leggings up his shins. Jamie could make out Kodi's dark form standing shock still, but nothing incriminating.

"What?" Jamie mumbled.

Kodi was quiet until he reached a silent realization. "Oh. Nothing. I just – you scared me."

Kodi yanked his leggings up and adjusted them, smoothing out the bunching of fabric and picking at where it uncomfortably gathered near his groin. He always wore long sleeved bottoms. Always leggings and shorts or skirts, sometimes with tunics. Never with plain shorts or skirts. Kodi was the only spirit who restricted himself to displaying his legs.

No one ever asked Kodi about his leggings. Either they respected his privacy like Jamie did, or they never noticed. After many years it would make sense if someone noticed and brought it up. Maybe someone did, years before Jamie was found, and it was settled at that time that no one was to bring it up again.

Jamie silently watched Kodi's dark figure pull shorts and a shirt on. It got a little bit brighter in the tent, just enough for Jamie to make out faint details of Kodi's face. Kodi worked his feet into his boots and kept popping his gaze up to look at Jamie. Jamie pretended not to be affected by the continuous check-ups that made him feel like Kodi was expecting something criminal of him. He yawned and rolled over, facing his side of the tent.

The sounds of moving ceased and all there was to hear were Jamie's soft breaths. He could feel eyes on him and _feel _the words ready to spill from Kodi's mouth. They were in the air behind Jamie's head, buzzing with enough energy to set off a chemical reaction that would ultimately lead to an explosion.

Jamie knew and didn't know what Kodi wanted to say. He knew it was about last night, but he didn't know what specifically about last night.

The silence was vibrating with the unsaid words, and Jamie almost rolled back to face Kodi and ask what it was he wanted to say.

The words came out, but they weren't the ones Jamie had felt.

"Jamie? Do you…like Frost?"

"I guess I do," Jamie said, and then added through a yawn, "He's nice." He hoped he sounded convincing enough for Kodi to pass it off as a result of his sleepiness.

Kodi inhaled deeply as if preparing for a potentially devastating blow. Jamie braced himself for the inevitable.

"How much do you like him?"

"Dunno. Not much I guess."

"I think he's nice."

"Mmmh yeah?" Jamie turned his mouth into his pillow and bit it. He hoped Kodi wasn't going down _that_ path. He wasn't prepared.

"I mean, he frosted my you-know-what and my leaves – and the whole camp, but…he's nice."

Jamie yawned an agreement and feigned falling asleep. Kodi left after he realized Jamie wasn't awake, or after he realized that Jamie didn't want to talk at all.

#

Nobody seemed to be in a good mood. Devin had taken a painful blow to his authority and confidence, and it was obvious in the way he limped around camp with slouched shoulders. Jamie was ordered to spend another day resting by Leyla. She told him so with a straight mouth and an emotionless voice. As the spirits swapped in and out of camp, Jamie saw how terribly the fight yesterday had affected them. There were minor injuries, but they might as well have been major from the lack of gusto the spirits carried them with. Even Cee was down.

Jamie leached off the camp's collective energy and went through the rest of day frowning and wishing for night to come. He also wished for Jack to visit, but he didn't admit it to anyone. He wanted to ask if anyone had seen Jack, but they'd accuse him of betrayal or something else ridiculous. After yesterday, nobody but Jamie wanted to see winter spirits.

Night came and some spirits were calling it a day earlier than usual. Jack, or his helpers, had gotten the majority of Burgess in an early winter. Nature's melody didn't call for such bitter weather, but nobody seemed to care. There was a week left of autumn, but Jamie could tell that the camp was already calling it quits.

The next morning Cee brought up an early break to Devin. Ruby and Glen agreed and that led to other spirits voicing their similar thoughts. "There's no point in staying here," Ruby said, "Frost can make it winter for all I care. I just need a break."

Jamie broke away from the gathering as other spirits returned from their shifts and joined the unofficial meeting.

Jack was supposed to take Jamie on flight lessons yesterday. Bitter disappointment spread in Jamie's mouth.

Winter had already made an obvious mark on the forest. Frost didn't appear as randomly as it did before; frost was _everywhere_. The trees were coated with it and the grass' tips were a dusty white. There wasn't a need for autumn spirits now. What were the other spirits even doing on their shifts?

"Your friends are slacking off," Jack said.

Jamie shrieked. He slapped a hand over his mouth and cut his teeth into the back of his lips. "Frost!" he shouted into his palm.

"I thought we were on a first name basis." Jack slipped around the tree he had been hiding behind. "Aren't we friends?"

"Where's your staff?"

"Avoiding the question, are you?" Jack tsked and stroked his chin. "Not very kind, but…I'll let you pass up on answering. I don't need my staff anymore. It was just a focus for me. I grew out of it. Three hundred years later. Pfft." He stretched his arms above his head and mewled.

Heat rushed to Jamie's face. He cleared his throat. "Um, what're you doing here?"

"Teach you how to fly. I got a little busy with Night yesterday. Also Isabelle. Those two are a handful. I didn't put you aside, don't worry."

"I didn't worry at all." Jamie's arms snapped across his chest automatically.

"No need to be defensive." Jack held his hands up and dramatically cowered. "I was only joking. Please don't hurt me."

Jamie was perplexed as to why he _enjoyed_ Jack's childish antics. "You're acting like a kid."

"I'm just having a little fun." Jack straightened up. He looked very strange without his majestic staff, more approachable. He straightened his hoodie. "Ready to fly? By the end of the day you'll be flying sky high. Literally!" He hopped in front of Jamie, his back to Jamie's chest. "Grab on."

Jamie's hands danced over Jack's shoulders. "Um. How?"

"Ever done a piggy back ride?"

"Yeah, but -" Jamie hesitantly climbed onto Jack's back. He couldn't breathe. Jack was hot and cold and his fingers were like hot rods under Jamie's thighs.

"The cool thing about no staff is that I can hold you better."

"T-that's great. Can we go now?"

"Hang on tight."

"I am – _hey!_" Jamie almost fell off when Jack suddenly took off. He scrambled to get tighter grips.

"You totally weren't!" Jack laughed.

"Shut up!"

#

"A _mountain_?" They were on one of the highest alcoves of the Appalachian's. Burgess was a tiny speck from here. Jamie looked at the ground thousands of feet below his feet. It was a smooth drop down with little obstacles sticking out of the mountain. Jamie curled his fingers into the rough holds of the rock wall behind him.

Jack wasn't as bothered by the sudden drop to death. Obviously. He could fly. Jamie couldn't.

"There once was a boy who wanted to swim. He didn't know how, and his parents were away doing whatever shit parents did before America was a country, so he asked his grandfather who happened to be in town to teach him. His grandfather took him to the ocean on a boat."

"What are you-"

Jack held a finger up and Jamie immediately hushed.

"Hush, my young Padawan. Moral in this story you will learn. His grandfather took him to the middle of the ocean. I know it makes no sense, but it helps the visualization. The grandfather tossed the boy into the ocean. The boy almost drowned." Jack paused here and stared into the distance. "He almost drowned but he managed to swim to the surface. 'Why did you do that? I could have died!' he screamed at his grandfather. 'But you are swimming. Are you not?' his grandfather said. 'You learn when you need the knowledge the most.' And that is the moral."

"And your point is?"

Jack only offered a smile in response.

"You're not going to shove me off the mountain, are you?" Jamie tried to edge away but a quick look at the drop before him rooted his feet.

Jack gestured positively.

"Oh hell no." Jamie laughed nervously and to his embarrassment his eyes started to tear. "You _said_ you wouldn't."

"I said I wouldn't drop you out of midair, not push you off a mountain." Jack approached Jamie easily, never checking to see if he was approaching the edge of the alcove.

"I'll never forgive you!"

Jack held back, and then laughed. He pried one of Jamie's clawed hands away from the wall. "Night told me about your little flight. He said you managed to steer him into a tree. Pretty cool if you ask me."

"He almost _killed_ me! I was going to hit the ground from hundreds of feet in the-"

Jack threw Jamie off the mountain.

"_JAAAAACK!_"

#

It took five seconds of free-fall (which really felt like a full minute) for Jamie to develop an intense hatred for Jack's sick twisting of promises.

Jack was laughing from somewhere above him, and Jamie screamed at him to stop, stop, stop because he couldn't fly and he didn't remember what he did when Night dropped him. It was just luck.

"I. Can't. FLY!" Jamie screamed.

"Try!"

"I AM."

"Try harder!"

"JAAACK!"

Jamie decided that he had enough of freefalling for a lifetime. The continuous feeling of his stomach dropping over and over again was going to leave him with a serious desire to vomit when he landed.

If he landed in one piece.

He doubted Jack would let him hit the ground. He'd catch Jamie several meters above ground. Jamie told himself this over and over as he tried to snatch a hold on the wind.

"Oh come on, Jamie! You can do better than that!"

Jamie imagined in vivid detail slamming a wind vector into Jack so hard, he'd go pin-wheeling yards away.

He adjusted his body so he was falling head first, crossed his arms in front of his head, and _pushed._

"You did – _hey!_"

Jamie slammed into Jack. Something hard jabbed into Jamie's stomach and he lost his hold on the wind. He fell and struggled frantically to get another hold.

"That hurt!" Jack shouted and laughed.

It sounded like Jack was right above him. Jamie chortled deep in his throat and punched down on the air between him and the ground.

He slammed into Jack again, but this time he kept a hold on the wind.

"Jamie!" Jack hugged him. "You did it!"

Jamie changed their direction. The vector change was sloppily done, and the two zigzagged until they were flying down diagonally.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, still in a good mood and still pressed up tightly against Jamie's chest.

When the top of a tree was close enough, Jamie hurled Jack at it with all the strength he could gather without losing enough to drop his height.

Jack cushioned his collision with the tree's lengthy branches and guided himself gently on top of one of the longest branches. "Nice try," he said.

"I was going to impale you on one of those branches."

"Sure." Jack sat on the branch. "Of course you were. Because I threw you off a cliff and you have this habit of trying to make people pay for what they've done."

"No I don't." Jamie could think of many times he didn't try to get revenge.

"When you were a human, you tried to get back at people through me. It was really cute how you 'commanded' me to throw snowballs at bullies and bury their cars under snow. One of my favorites was when you told me to blow this guy's jeep off the sidewalk. I didn't do it, of course, but you were so feisty. You took my staff and swung it around trying to make ice come out of it or whatever. And then you threw it at the jeep and it set the alarm off."

Jamie couldn't see himself doing that, human or not, but it was an amusing story. "You know, I got some memories back last night."

"What." Jack's face was a picture of shock, and then he screamed.

Jamie screamed and lost control of the wind. He dropped and then cartwheeled to one side and then flew to the other and finally smacked into Jack who had flown out to steady him.

Jack held him by the shoulder, eyes inches from his own. "What'd you see?"

"A little bit of my past. We were friends when I was a kid and I was the Brightest Light. And I loved s'mores."

Jack's eyebrows pinched together and then sprung towards his hairline. He gaped. "Because of the cookies!"

"I guess so." Jamie caught onto Jack's excitement and started smiling. "The cookies triggered the memories, didn't they? So other things should get my other memories back."

"Or maybe Manny decided to give you them back because you totally deserve them now." Jack hugged Jamie. "I waited three hundred years for mine. Maybe you only had to wait five."

Jamie nodded, his cheek brushing with Jack's. "Do you have all of yours?"

"Manny rarely gives all the memories back. It might 'cause too much trauma. And I think... Ah. Forget it."

Jack held Jamie out at a half-arm's length, and Jamie quickly remembered to regain the wind vector keeping him up.

"Congrats," Jack said, looking Jamie's hovering form up and down. "You've got some good control."

Jamie pushed Jack towards the ground. "No more lessons today. I want to talk."

Jack blinked owlishly. "Okay."

Jack landed gracefully and caught Jamie after a stumbling landing. Jamie sucked his cheeks in as if he could suck out the pink in his cheeks.

"There's a meadow we can sit in," Jamie said, tilting his cheeks away. He pretended to scope the flora around them. "The camp isn't in a good mood and seeing you won't make them feel any better."

"How about the lake? I have to check up on it anyways. Make sure it's not breakable." Jack stuck a hand out to Jamie. "I can piggy back you there if you're tired of flying."

"I can manage." Jamie waited for Jack to go first, but the winter spirit was obviously waiting for Jamie to take the lead.

"I need to make sure you don't hurt yourself," Jack explained with his charming crooked smile.

Jamie readied himself with a shaky break and took off.

His angle of trajectory was off and his acceleration was beyond the reach of a reasonable range, so three seconds later he was lying on the ground spitting out leaves.

Jack brushed him off firmly and helped him to his feet. "Please tell me those aren't your leaves."

"They're not." Jamie pulled a nasty one out of his mouth, spitting when he saw a small slug on it.

Jack cracked up while Jamie scratched at his tongue with his fingers and whimpered.

After Jamie was done spazzing and cleaning out his mouth, Jack flew him to the lake. He was glad that Jack couldn't see his face. It was pink with his embarrassment and he didn't need more insult to his injury.

It turned out Jamie _had _eaten some of his own leaves. To an autumn spirit, that was like peeling off dead skin and stuffing it in their mouth. Their leaves weren't the same as the ones found on trees and plants. They were fleshier.

"You alright?" Jack asked. "You're shivering. Didn't eat too many leaves, did you? Or did you get some dirt too?"

"I'm fine!" Jamie spat. He pushed off Jack's back when they were a few feet from landing at the lake. He went to the large rock that was near the shore. There was enough room for Jack to join him, if he squeezed in tight, so Jamie took up the center of the rock and as much space as he could.

He watched Jack frost over the lake. He tried to disguise his fascination, but gave up when Jack notice him staring.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Jack called out.

The frost designs crawled from his feet like dozens of snakes. They split into more designs, and those designs into more designs, until the entire lake was coated with them. The designs congealed to fortify the ice.

"Would it be faster if you had your staff?" Jamie asked as Jack walked off the ice.

"It'd be the same." Jack admired the frozen lake as he stood in front of Jamie while Jamie admired the view in front of him.

Jack had nice legs – for a dead boy. Jamie laughed in his head, and then remembered that he was dead as well. All the spirits were dead.

Jamie dropped his head into his hands. Manny would give him his memories death. He eventually gave them to all the spirits. Kodi knew. Glen knew. Devin knew. Leyla knew. Cee knew. Jack knew. Jamie was one of the only spirits at the camp who didn't.

How bad was it?

Most spirits didn't speak about their deaths. Some of them were triggered when their deaths were mentioned, or the mean of their death. Kodi was triggered when some people touched him and sometimes when people spoke about self-harm. Jamie had reasons to believe that Kodi's death was a suicide. If Kodi truly meant to die, why had Manny resurrected him as a spirit? There had to have been extreme regret if Kodi succeeded in his attempts. He enjoyed being a spirit too; he was still here after decades. If he wanted to go, he would've asked for mercy, and Manny would have granted it.

Jack's feet appeared in Jamie's lowered vision. Jack squatted and his unhappy face looked up at Jamie. "What's wrong?"

"I was thinking about how all spirits are dead. Morbid thoughts." Jamie shook his head. "I just want to forget about it."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something. Remember?"

"I just wanted to talk." Jamie shrugged. "About whatever I guess. We're friends now…or will be. So we should do what friends do…and talk."

"Okay. So what _do _you want to talk about?" Jack sat in front of Jamie cross legged and dropped his hands in his lap, leaning forward like Kodi did when Devin told him stories of what he remembered from the early 19th century.

Jamie didn't know what in particular he wanted to talk about. He didn't have anything in his past to dwell on, except…

"Can you explain my memories to me? You were in them, so maybe you remember what was going on."

Jack leaned back. "Your memories? From that long ago?"

"You don't have to. It must have been a decade ago."

"No. It's fine. I want to help you remember. Tell me what they were."

Jamie thought back to the flashbacks. He remembered one that stood out the most. "There was a whole table of s'more cookies that you said were for Christmas. You said I couldn't eat any or I'd be on the Naughty List, and then I said I was the Brightest Light and was immune."

"I remember that!" Jack clapped his hands once and propped them behind him. He leaned back and looked at the sky. "You were in middle school. First year I think. Or last year of elementary school. You wanted to help North wrap the gifts and he said you could help with the perishables. It just happened that they were your favorite."

Jamie tried to see a younger version of himself staring open mouthed at a mountain of cookies. He could. "They were really good," he said. "The cookies in the basket. Did you drop them off?"

"Yeah. Nice tent by the way. Who are you bunking with?"

"Kodi."

Jack's disappointment wasn't understandable. "Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just remembered that I'm overdue on pranking Bunny - the Easter Bunny. Who did you say you were bunking with? Kodi? He's a sweet kid." He said 'kid' sourly.

"Do you have a problem with Kodi?"

"Not at all. He's just…really clingy to you." Jack lolled his head to his shoulder and looked away. "He really likes you."

"I understand him."

"Yeah. You're really empathic."

Jamie wasn't. If he was, he'd understand why Jack suddenly felt uncomfortable. What could he possibly dislike about Kodi? Was he jealous of the close relationship Jamie had with him?

"We're just friends. Brothers even," Jamie said.

"I know. I just…you two are really close."

"Yeah."

"It bothers me. I don't know why. It just does. I guess it's 'cause…I want to be there instead of him. Not replace him, but I want to be the one."

How was it that their discussions always ended up getting deeper in the emotional side? It seemed that they always ended up skirting about the topic of their relationship, always dancing around it and poking at it with experimental fingers.

"Jack? What do _you _want to talk about?" Jamie asked.

"What _you_ want to talk about. Your memories."

"No. _Really_. What do you want to talk about?"

"Us."

"You can't rush this. I don't understand you. It's always _us_. Us. A relationship _us_. Can we please slow it down a hundred times? We're not even close friends yet and you're making this extremely uncomfortable for me. I barely know you, but you know everything about me, and it's _weird_. Slow down." Jamie exhaled and brushed through his tangled leaves. Jack mutely looked at him, lips pressed tightly like the fold of a white paper. "I know that you want to jump to it. It's part of your fun thing."

"Center."

"Fun center. Skip the hard stuff and get right to the games. But I'm not just a game. I'm a person."

"You're a puzzle." Jack sat forward, brushing his hands of the dirt and pebbles that embedded themselves in their palms. "I need to put you together before I get to the fun at the end, when you're all solved. I get it. I'm just impatient." He smiled. "So let's go slower. What other memories did you get back?"

"You brought me a bag of cookies one night when I was studying something."

Jack tilted his head back and hummed. "I don't remember that, but I used to bring you a lot of cookies in middle school. You got a health scare when your eye doctor said that you have a lot of cholesterol in your eye veins so you cut off the cookies and started working out."

Jamie chuckled. "What kind of workouts?"

"Swimming and running. Easy stuff."

"Do you think I'll get those memories back later?" Jamie wanted them. He wanted all his happy memories with Jack. If his times with Jack were as good as they sounded and appeared to be in his small samples of memories, he would feel more complete.

"I don't see why Manny would deprive you of them for all time. He only gives you what you can handle. Sometimes what you can handle is so heavy that it feels like you can't handle it. Like those spirits who get their final memories of life." Jack stretched his arms. "I remember," he said with a grunt when a bone popped, "how I spent hours standing here after learning how I died. Before I knew that I had drowned, I spent the majority of my time here. It was the first place I remembered, the place I came from, so I had an emotional connection with it from the very start. Then I learned that I died here and it was kind of sick twist on my comfort here.

"I still feel comfortable here. But it took me a while to get used to it. Sometimes I see her when I come here. She'll be skating on the surface or walking around the lake like a ghost. It's just my imagination, but sometimes I see her." Jack gazed wishfully at the lake.

Jamie looked at the lake too and imagined a girl version of a younger Jack skating on the surface. He could see her as a faint, almost transparent, figure twisting youthfully. He closed his eyes and heard a girl's laughter. When he opened his eyes Jack was staring at him, a shining love in his eyes.

"I can see her," Jamie said. "She giggles a lot."

"She did. She giggled at the smallest things. You'd stare at her and wonder what the hell was so funny, and then you'd start giggling too 'cause it was so contagious." Jack giggled, high pitched and girly.

Jamie giggled and didn't realize he had until Jack mentioned it.

They fell into a silence with many opportunities for good conversation hanging in the air. Jamie could grab onto any of them. They were all within reach, so Jamie grabbed a random one.

"What did I look like as a human?"

"You had messy brown hair. Sometimes you smoothed it down with gel or something ungodly with chemicals and it always smelled like plastic." Jack smoothed his hair down, parting it in the middle. He released his hair and it slowly puffed back up to its naturally volumized form. "You had olive-ish skin and freckles over your nose and cheeks. You still have them, though they're not that easy to spot with your dark skin. You had brown eyes and they always stood out when you wore green. Hence the scarf. Cough cough."

"I still have it. It's in my tent."

Jack waved his hand in the air. "Of course. _I _put it there."

"I put it in a safe place. You won't have to worry about it getting stolen. Kodi doesn't even like scarfs."

"He doesn't like scarfs. He likes girl clothes."

Jamie frowned. No one at camp had a problem with it. Did Jack _have_ to be the judgmental one? "So what?"

"It's the truth. He wears leggings and booty shorts and skirts. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm just saying that he likes girl clothes. I could get him some more if he wants. I know a few yetis and elves who are fashion experts."

"He doesn't like clothes that are too flashy. He likes to blend in."

"It'll be autumn themed. Brown and green and red – the colors of autumn."

Jamie didn't see anything wrong with it. Jack wouldn't dare go out of his way to ridicule Kodi. "_If_ you bring clothes for Kodi, put it on his bed. Fold them neatly. He likes his clothes to be folded."

Jack gave two thumbs up. "You've got it." He stood and brushed the dirt off his bottom. "I need to get back to my camp and check-up on how winter's coming along. I'll put Kodi's orders in and get those delivered right away."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Alright. See you later."

"Adios." Jack turned around, and Jamie quickly shouted for him to wait. Jack faced him again. "Yeah?"

Jamie held his arms open and waved for Jack to come in. "You didn't give me a hug."

Jack looked from one spread arm to the other. "Hug?"

"Yeah." Jamie smiled and stood. He waved his arms in short lines like a little bird testing out its wings. "Don't leave me hanging."

Jack slowly stepped into Jamie's arms, his cold body molding around Jamie. When he pulled back, Jamie held his arms still. "Um. Bye." Jamie kissed Jack's cheek and ducked his head when all the sap in his body rushed up to his face.

"Y-yeah. Bye." Jack stepped back and shook his head as if he couldn't believe his luck. "Wow. See you." He waved and then leapt into the air with the happiest smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Un'beta'd.

I don't know, guys. I'm feeling a little shitty right now so this might not be the best. But hey, Jamie kissed Jack's cheek. Happy?

Please don't shove people in water to teach them how to swim. It doesn't work that way. I got the story from _Aesop's Fables_. Jack just told it really weirdly.

Also I definitely, maybe want to kill someone off.

There's a poll on my profile about an original story. If you vote I'll be happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Downtown Memories

* * *

The camp was filled with all the spirits, only a few leaving to patrol Burgess. The consensus was that autumn would end a week earlier than planned, thus adding a week to their annual break. Each season spent a little over a half of each year working hard to transition into their seasons and then out. The rest of the year was spent relaxing, sometimes helping out other seasons, and sometimes assisting the Guardians.

For the past years the majority of camp was excited to get to work after months of lazing away; this year was the first time it was inversed. Only Kodi was eagerly packing up his belongings. Everyone else grudgingly filled their travel packs with clothes and their few other possessions.

They would set out at night for the Warren where they would stay with the spring spirits until winter and summer ended. Then again, not all spirits stayed in the Warren. Some would go vacationing across the globe, others would spend weeks as assistants to the Guardians (if they were chosen from the hundreds of applicants), and a few crazed spirits would sabotage winter and summer out of spite. Last year Cee dedicated two weeks to pissing off a small winter camp in Washington. Jamie wanted to know if she intended to do the same thing this year, but he still wasn't feeling up to talking to her. She wasn't either; she still threw glares at him – though they were filled with less hatred.

Jamie packed up slowly so he could enjoy Kodi's soft singing. When Kodi left, Jamie napped on his mattress. He woke up to the sound of the tent entrance flapping shut. On Kodi's mattress was a large cloth bag, nearly as large as all of Kodi's belongings put together. Unable to control himself, Jamie loosened the ribbon around the opening. A _shitload_ of clothes lay inside, folded just like how Kodi like it, stacked in three crammed rows. There was a wood bracing on the outside that made the bag sturdy and kept the clothes from mixing with each other. It looked like one of North's gift sacks.

Jamie tied the bag shut and stepped outside. A cold hand tugged him behind the tent, another hand covering his mouth and keeping his shriek to a dull mumble.

"Don't tell him," Jack said. "I want him to be surprised."

"How did you get all that done?"

"It's been four hours. Why wouldn't I have it all done? The yetis are phenomenal clothes makers. They made a style just for Kodi." Jack stooped to pick up a bouquet of yellow roses off the ground, still holding Jamie's wrist. "I also stopped by the Warren to pick these up for you." He put them in Jamie's palm and guided his fingers around them. "Yellow is for eternal friendship – I think. I frosted the petals too, 'cause I figured that'd be pretty."

Jamie sniffed the half frozen roses, picking up more than the roses' sweet scent. "It smells…weird…"

"Well… The roses were red so I painted them with Bunny's dye." Jack sniffed the roses. His hand held Jamie's steady. "I hope the smell airs out."

"It's nice. Thank you." Jamie fingered the frost patterns. "Will these melt off?"

"They should last a long time."

"I hope they do. They're lovely. Did you get them from the Warren?"

Jack looked away. "I got the paint from there."

"Where'd you get the flowers? The Warren too?"

"Eh… I kind of stole them from a human."

Jamie was going to scold him, but Jack burst into high pitched giggles. "I don't know why I feel so guilty," Jack said.

"Maybe because you stole them."

"I didn't exactly. He said I could have them and then he backed out on the deal. But whatever. There are plenty more roses."

"He could see you? A human? How old is he? Ten? Are you stealing from kids?" Jamie sniffed the roses again. Something cold touched his nose, and he jerked back. A little hummingbird, smaller than any average one, popped out.

"Baby Tooth! You little sucker," Jack said.

Baby Tooth twittered at Jamie, and then her eyes went shock wide. She spun to face Jack and pointed at Jamie as if there was something obviously wrong with him.

"Later, later. I'll explain later." Jack batted her away when she darted up to his face, slapping his cheek with her tiny hands like a baby trying to get attention from its parent.

Baby Tooth sighed and dropped onto Jack's shoulder. She crossed her arms stubbornly, her angry eyes going soft when they looked at Jamie. She sighed again, this time sounding like a girl going weak-kneed over a dreamy boy.

Jamie inspected the bouquet bag. There weren't any more birds camping inside.

Jack was staring at him peculiarly, as if he was zoning out, his eyes unfocused. "That's strange," he said. Jamie wasn't sure if Jack meant to say that out loud. Baby Tooth stared at him like he was crazy, hand propped on his shoulder and leaning away from his head.

"What's strange?" Jamie asked.

Jack laughed and shook his head slowly. "Something's up at camp." He looked down at Baby Tooth. "You think I'm cray cray?"

Baby Tooth nodded.

"I'm just getting a sense that something's going on back at Antarctica. Probably another camp fight. We've been getting a lot of those lately. I should probably head back. I was going to take you out on a walk, but it looks like that's going to be put off for now."

"We're moving out tonight," Jamie said. "I probably won't be here if you don't come back today."

Jack nodded. "I heard. You'll be at the Warren, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll see you there tomorrow. Or maybe tonight." Jack's cheeks tinged pink. "I didn't meant for that sound like a tryst or whatever."

"It didn't sound like one."

"Oh. Guess it's just me and my dirty thoughts." Jack deposited Baby Tooth into his pocket. She circled around before settling, like a dog making its bed comfy. "I'll be off."

Jamie stepped into Jack's personal space and kissed his cheek. "Bye."

Jack lunged forward and practically punched Jamie's forehead with his mouth. "Sorry. That was hard."

Jamie laughed and rubbed at his forehead, blushing before he recognized the symptoms leading up to it.

Jack left, and before Jamie headed back to his tent, he heard someone high in the air scream, "HELL YES!"

#

Jamie's high excitement from Jack's kiss wore off quickly. The camp was in a dump of a mood. Kodi was happier than he was in the morning, especially with the sack of clothes Jack left on his mattress. With no one able to share his happiness, it quickly wore off too. By the time the camp was a minute into Bunny's tunnel, Kodi was as gray faced as everyone else.

Jamie thought of Jack's lips on his forehead, but it wasn't much to help with the sadness in his chest. He knew that Jack most likely wouldn't see him a second time during the day, but he still held onto a hope. He had _anticipated_ no encounter until tomorrow. So when it was time to head out and Jack hadn't come, Jamie was confused and angry with himself.

At the camp in the Warren, the eggs were hassling off the last of the summer spirits. Jamie and Kodi waited for their tent to empty – two male spirits, sloppily dressed and showing off their sweaty and matted hair, strutted out – and then spent about half an hour setting everything up.

Kodi left to play with some eggs and Jamie took a long nap. This part of the Warren went through a normal day cycle. Unlike the other parts that stayed in light or darkness at all times, the spirit campout experienced it all. Jamie woke when it was night (jet lag _sucked_) and walked around camp.

Ruby was outside with other spirits, bodies telling them that it was time to sleep even though they had a full night's (day's?) rest.

Seasonal breaks rarely saw a full camp. Some days it felt like a part of Jamie's being was missing, especially when Cee was screwing around with the summer and winter spirits. Jamie was feeling the gap especially hard today; Cee still wasn't on talking terms with him. They'd talk as soon as Jamie saw her. He made a promise to himself.

During breaks, Jamie usually wandered around Burgess and watched its residents carry on with their daily lives. He asked Darius, who was filing his stubs of branches even shorter in his tent, if he wanted to go with.

"After I even out my branches." Darius still had six left to go.

"You know, Jack was joking when he said you needed to trim them."

"_Jack?_"

"Yeah."

"First name basis?" Darius paused his rounding out of a stub. He looked at Jamie with round eyes as if calling Jack by his first name was unheard of.

"What difference does it make if I call him 'Jack' instead of 'Frost'?"

"It means you're not being careful." Darius stopped smoothing out a stub to inspect his filer. He brushed wood dust off it with the care of someone sharpening a blade. "Cee doesn't approve. She says that you're crazy to interact with Frost after everything he's done. She says that for all your complaining of his ignorance, your sudden infatuation with him is just lust and that if you want to get fucked so bad, you should drop your tights for Kodi." He cocked a brow as if to say, _How about it?_

Jamie wanted to stab the file into one of Darius's stubs and dig it out piece by piece. Cee wouldn't say trash about Jamie. She had an awful temper and she handled it in questionable ways sometimes, but she didn't trash talk Jamie in vile ways to others. And no one was looking at Jamie any different. Everyone was treating him the same, even with the disastrous meet between winter and autumn. Jamie could be blamed for it, but no one did. But Jamie could well see Darius becoming someone who did.

Darius giggled and brought the filer across a stub in a vicious slash. It slid downward and stabbed into a nearly flattened one. Sap leaked onto the filer, out of the puncture wound. Darius giggled again.

Jamie reached to help, but Darius had already pulled it out. As if the filer was a cork and the stub a pressured bottle, sap poured out – a disturbing amount of sap for a small cut.

"Whatever." Darius licked the filer, watching Jamie idly. "You know, fixing the cabinets in the infirmary was more painful than this."

Jamie fetched Leyla, and while she pressed gauze to Darius's head, Darius guffawed at something evidently only he could see. "Should've left them broken for the winter spirits."

"I've got this," Leyla said. Jamie heard the unspoken, "He's having a moment so get your ass out of here."

He went to his tent – where Cee was lounging. She sat up from Jamie's mattress.

"What-," he began.

"We need to talk." She pulled him outside by the wrist. "Burgess, okay? Downtown?"

"Um, sure."

#

It was late in the morning and downtown was mostly empty. It was a weekday, so most people were in school or at work. Jamie and Cee were making rounds, walking around people as if they could make physical contact with them.

They had gone around two blocks, and all they had said were short observations of life around them.

"Winter's coming in hard."

"Some people look like they weren't expecting it to be this cold."

"Looks like it's gonna snow later."

"I wonder if winter will be as brutal as last year."

"Winter sure made its mark here."

They both knew they were skirting around the real reason they came out here. Cee usually didn't avoid topics. She went right into them with the gusto of talented conversationalist.

They'd walk out here for hours if nobody transitioned.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" Jamie asked.

Cee walked through a kid and a dog. Jamie flinched, imagining the cool and sometimes icily painful pricks against her skin.

"You and Frost. What's between you two?"

Of course. Jack Frost. What else would it be about?

Jamie didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to tell the truth; he told part of the truth. "We're trying to be friends again."

They walked in silence past a duo of suit-clad men. Cee looked sideways at Jamie, expecting more, but she had to know that she wouldn't get anymore. She had known Jamie for half a decade. He didn't like disclosing details of personal subjects, which automatically told her that Jamie was hiding something intimate with Jack – which he technically wasn't, but Cee wouldn't think anything else.

To see how long he could last without revealing any more info, Jamie asked what she was planning to do during the rest of their break. Instead of going off into exuberant detail about the hell she planned to unleash on winter and summer like she often loved to do, she gave him a stink eye and asked about the roses.

"Kodi told me that you had a bouquet of roses from a secret admirer. I dunno if any spirits in camp has it goin' for you, so I thought, 'hey! What about Jack Frost?' He's so in love with you, it's gotta be him. Am I right?"

"There's nothing going on between us. We're just friends."

"Friends already? I thought you said you were working towards being friends."

Jamie stopped walking. "Seriously?"

Cee laughed, and it didn't sound like she a grudge against Jamie at all. It sounded like they were still friends, like Cee was teasing Jamie for taking Devin so seriously or for whining about everything.

"You friends or what?"

Jamie took long strides up to Cee. "We're sort of friends."

"Friends who kiss?"

"They're nothing! Not on the lips! Just cheeks and forehead!"

"I never saw you kiss. I just said that and it turns out you _are_ kissing." Cee exaggerated a shrug. "Who knew?"

"It's nothing. It's just – just close friend stuff."

"Close friend? I thought you were 'sort of friends'."

"Ugh. Cee, stop this. You're giving me a headache."

"Okay. Okay. So you guys are sort of close friends who kiss – but not on the lips. Do you want to kiss his lips?"

"If I said I do, will you shun me for liking Jack Frost?"

Cee pulled Jamie by the hand in front of a shop. "I need to apologize for being a bitch. At first I hated Frost because he hurt you, then I like him 'cause he loved you and was coming back to get you after so long – true love much? Totally! – and then I hated him because of the way he treated you in camp.

"That one day he spent with us, he didn't act like the guy I thought he was. He was more…I don't know how to explain it, but the thing is I didn't get a good vibe from him, and that worried me. But I'm not you. You make your own decisions. Okay? Forgive me?"

Jamie pounced a hug on her, accidently slamming her against the shop's window wall and freaking out the customers inside.

"Oh Cee. I have to apologize too." Jamie smiled as the people inside the store collectively calmed themselves. "I should've talked to you sooner."

Cee kissed his cheek. "I forgive you too. So now that we're good, _do _you want to kiss Frost?"

"To be honest, I sort of – oh…"

One of the shop's employees stepped out of the backroom. He carried a pile of long sleeve shirts to the shelves along the wall nearest Jamie and Cee. He placed them on the wall's shelf, and Jamie recognized the scar on the back of his hand. He knew it from somewhere he didn't remember.

Before the man returned to the back room, he looked out the window, right at Jamie. His eyes were distant, focusing on something behind Jamie – _through _Jamie, but it felt like the man was also seeing inside Jamie.

"He's hot. I'm diggin' the shaved head," Cee said.

"I know him," Jamie whispered.

Cee didn't hear; she was too busy ogling the man as he walked away. "I bet he's got a six pack under that flimsy shirt."

"I know him," Jamie repeated.

"You know him? From your past?" Cee gaped.

Jamie entered the store after a lady. He grabbed it right when she released the handle and pushed it open just enough to slip inside without making it look like the door was opened by a ghost. Cee, being Cee, disregarded the rule of drawing as little attention as possible to herself and yanked it open.

The man stopped in the doorway of the backroom, looking at the door as it swung shut. He rubbed his eye and pushed through the door.

Jamie slipped in after him.

"Jamie! We shouldn't be doing this! It's against the rules!" Cee shouted.

"You're Cee. You don't care about rules."

Cee didn't enter the room, but the door pushed in a little. Jamie imagined her contemplating the pros and cons and going in.

"I care about the rules when it can seriously hurt you. If you get caught, you're in serious trouble. It's a big rule, Jamie: no interaction with non-believers."

The man started unpacking a box of more shirts. Jamie stared at his scared hand. He knew that scar. He knew that man. Who _was_ he?

"If you don't come out, I'm getting Devin."

"I can't get out. Not until he leaves." Jamie cautiously neared the man and knelt in front of the box. He studied the man's tired face. If he knew this man in his past life, how could he access the memories? "I think I should touch him."

"I think you should back the fuck off."

"I might get memories back."

"You might get a fucking seizure. Not only will that hurt you, that'll hurt our cover. It's crowded in there, isn't it? It's a stock room. There's a shitload of stuff in there. If you get a seizure, you'll be slamming into everything. What happens then, huh? Another national ghost story. We do _not _need that."

"I got my memories before, and I don't get seizures. I just pass out." Jamie edged around the box until he was just two feet from the man.

"Great. You pass out. That's perfect. Then while you're on the ground, something's going to bump into you and next thing you know, there'll be humans poking at you with sticks trying to see what the hell is there and is invisible."

"That's not how the physics works. Any touch with intention will go right through me."

"Not always. Physics is damn fucking confusing. One time I got hit in the head with a soccer ball, and I don't think the 50 year old man who kicked it believed in me."

"Cool it, Cee. Just one touch and then I'm out. Okay?"

"Jamie, no. Please don't. I'm scared. I'm fucking scared and I'm Cee. That's a fucking paradox. I'm cursing a shitload like a motherfucking sailor, so you _have_ to understand that I'm freaking out. _Don't touch him._"

Jamie closed his eyes and touched the man's shoe, his finger went through, prickling like crazy. He withdrew his hand an inch, waited.

The man cleared his throat.

Jamie opened his eyes. The man was still pulling shirts out of the box. Nothing had happened.

The man spun the wheeling chair in front of the desk and started scanning the shirts in. Jamie touched the man's leg. His hand went through.

"Nothing's happening," Jamie said, disappointed. He swiped his hand through the man's shin.

"Oh thank Manny." Cee exhaled loudly after holding her breath. "I'm sweating like it's summer." She laughed. "You wouldn't believe. Now just stay still until he comes out again. Or not. Someone's coming in."

A young woman stepped in. Her bobcat hair and doll-like nose were familiar. She was as familiar as the man was. Jamie had to walk through her to get through the door unnoticed, but as soon as he walked through her, a bright flash wiped out his vision.

_Nothing. Just a pure white background and a soundless voice._

"_Jamie Bennett, there is no need to seek out your memories. You will receive them when it is time. You are correct; the woman and man are from your past. They play key roles in it, roles that you will learn when it is time. Have faith in me, your friends, and your love._

"_Enjoy your break, and for your own wellbeing, avoid this shop as much as you can."_

* * *

**A/N: **Bet you thought Jamie was getting memories back, from the chapter title, huh? Well you are WRONG. It was more of a symbolic thing.

Winter spirits and irate!Jack in next chapter. Shit's going down, son.

**This chapter is for the amazing Kat. Her birthday is tomorrow. **


	8. Chapter 8

Warped Perception

* * *

"Don't drag him!"

Jamie tried to close his eyes, but his eyelids wouldn't move. He tried to squeeze them together, but they were glued. He tossed his head to the side, groaning and struggling against his frozen eyelids. His eyes were open but he couldn't see anything but a warm gray backdrop. Voices buzzed in front of him, and something grainy scratched against his cheek. He opened his eyes and realized that he had been struggling to close his eyes when they already were closed.

The sky was covered with gray clouds, and even though the dull cover, the sun was too bright. Jamie closed his eyes and relaxed his body. It hurt less when he didn't struggle.

"I said don't _drag _him!" Cee shouted. Something that sounded like flesh got slapped and someone shrieked and called Cee a cunt. Jamie hoped it wasn't Night, but it sounded just like him. Night was the only spirit Jamie knew who could make a high pitch squeak sound natural for a male.

Feeling rushed into Jamie's body and he could feel the cold hands gripping his ankles through his leggings. He wiggled his toes and couldn't find the confines of his boots. He wiggled his fingers and they brushed against the grainy surface of a street. The street moved underneath him again.

"Stop dragging him!"

Another slap and then Night shouted, "Why don't you _do_ something then!"

"Go get Frost!"

"You get him!"

"No! Manny knows what you'll do to Jamie when I'm gone."

"I can't get Jack. My flight abilities are frozen thanks to _him_!"

"Frozen?"

"Jack froze them as punishment for talking shit about this dirt face" – Jamie felt a sharp boot nudge him in the ribs. – "but it was only the truth."

"Then run back to camp and get help."

"You get help! You're lucky I was nearby when you pulled him out. By the way, interfering with nonbelievers and their lives is against nature's law."

Fabric ripped and Night grunted.

"Listen up, frost trash. It wasn't my idea to go in there. It was Jamie's. And mind telling me how the hell your presence is luck? All you've done is drag Jamie on the street and complain and insult."

Jamie was sure that he could sit up without pain. Maybe he'd feel a little drowsy and a little tipsy, but he would survive. He held back though. The feeling that he was listening in on something key kept him on the ground. He kept his eyes closed and did a little mediation while he listened in on the conversation taking place above him.

"I'll stay here while you get help. That's luck," Night snapped. Literally. He snapped his fingers. "I won't hurt him. Can't hurt him. If I do then Jack will take away my flight forever. I have no clue how he'll do it, but he will."

"Can't believe I'm trusting you." Cee aggressively exhaled, sounding like a bull ready to charge, and then she was gone with a loud whisper of wind.

"I know you can hear me," Night said. "Stop playing dumb and listen up."

Jamie opened his eyes slowly. Against the backdrop of gray clouds, Night's smug face leaned in until his stormy blue eyes. Was that a lightening flash in his eyes or just Jamie's unsteady hold on reality?

"You. Are. In. The. Way," Night gritted through snow white teeth. "Jack may have fallen in love with you all over again, but you better know that before the mistake of finding you in the forest, Jack was falling for me. He was _falling_ for _me_. Then he met _you_ and everything got flipped. You _stole _him from me."

If Cee didn't get back soon, she'd return to a tangle of bloody limbs. A hot flash flared through Jamie's body and his mind righted itself. He sat up quickly, almost butting heads with Night. He grabbed the lapels of Night's leather jacket and pulled him nose-to-nose.

"I'm not involved with him. You can have him."

Night's eye softened into confusion.

"But you won't have him because he loves me."

Anger flooded Night's face. "If you don't want him, don't hog him."

"I never said I didn't want him."

"You don't understand."

"_You _don't understand."

"You really don't understand."

"Then tell me. What don't I understand?"

Night shook his head slowly. Jamie caught the shine of tears of Night's eyes and he wondered if they were from anger or from sadness. He let go of Night's jacket and the winter spirit pulled away, straightening his clothes even after they were righted.

Jamie tried to stand but Night pushed him back down with his foot. "Don't move."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "I don't think you've ever been so kind to me."

"If you think I'm kind, you'll think the other winter spirits are super de duper kind." Night rolled his eyes and Jamie almost wanted to engage him in a contest to see who could roll their eyes with the most ferocity. "If Jack invites you to Antarctica, say 'no'. Take it from me. You won't survive."

"Why? Too cold?"

"The weather's freezing and the spirits are stone hard icicles."

"You mean they're jackasses like you?"

Night nodded. "More so. The ones who stay at Antarctica and not in camps like the ones here are real jackasses. The jackasses of the jackasses. Think of the spirits that made fun of you last week. Now imagine hundreds of them, only rude enough to actually physically shove you on the ground and beat you to a pulp. If Jack takes you to the main camp, then he's either an idiot or he wants you to get beat up."

"Is it really that bad?" Jamie didn't think that Jack would permit such behavior. Before meeting Jamie, maybe, but after meeting Jamie? Jack was shaping up. He even punished Night with handcuffs that robbed him of his flight, and now he didn't even use handcuffs. "I thought he was taking control over his helpers."

"He just started to enforce his power, but the helpers won't bow down right away. Anyone would know that it takes time. Some spirits are even rebelling against the sudden smack down."

But Jack was changing. Changing for Jamie.

"What the hell are you smiling about?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah? Well get used to frowning because Jack's mine and you can't have him."

Jamie sighed. "Here we go again. How old are you? Centuries? Grow up and act like a wise old man, why don't you?"

"I'm older than you, so I have more of a right to act like a snooty bitch."

"You must have driven your mother insane. You were a stuck up prince, weren't you?"

Night's face became a blank slate. It was as if Jamie had flipped a switch to turn him off.

"Um, Night?"

"You don't understand." Night shook his head and grabbed Jamie's arm. He pulled him to his feet without any care for being gentle. "Sit on the curb," he said, tugging Jamie to the corner of the sidewalk and pushing him down.

Night sat a meter away from him, hunched over his knees and staring at the street as the occasional car softly rolled by. Jamie tried to look at him from the corner of his eyes, but Night faced his body diagonally away from Jamie.

A while passed in silence. Jamie listened to a woman walking behind them, talking into her hands-free phone about her daughter's upcoming wedding.

They didn't talk until Cee returned with another winter spirit and a folded stretcher.

"He's fine," Night said.

"Are you?" Cee asked.

"Yeah. I just have a small headache."

The other winter spirit sighed. "If that's it. I'll be on my way."

Cee nodded. "Thanks for your time."

"Think nothing of it." The spirit sighed and flew away with the stretcher.

Night stretched his arms and legs and mewled. Cee and Jamie watched silently. "Well," Night said, voice stretched just like his limbs, "I'm headed back to camp." He smiled crookedly at Jamie. "The _main_ camp."

"You can't fly," Jamie said.

"I'll have someone fly me." Night stood and made a show of stretching his calves. "How's your flight going, Jamie?" Night said Jamie's name with a childish lilt. With that attitude, Night probably didn't know about Jamie's lessons with Jack. He wanted to levitate there and watch the smile melt off Night's icy face.

"It's going well. Jack taught me and I've got the basic hang of it."

It was disappointing to see Night remain in control of his haughty expression. "Don't go flying anytime soon. Not after fainting."

"Wouldn't think of it."

"Good."

During their little exchange, Cee watched the man with the shaved head. Jamie looked back. The man was rolling a metal hanging rack of clothes from the fitting room around the shop, re-shelving clothes. His face was blank, but there was underlying sadness in his dark eyes.

Night left without another word. He whistled as he crossed the street and headed downtown.

"Bye," Cee said. "You know, I don't like him."

Jamie waved his hands in the air. "Really? My goodness! Me _too_!"

Cee laughed and whacked Jamie's head. "Oh. Sorry."

#

"There's something unnerving about kids wearing t-shirts in the middle of winter," Cee said.

A small group of kids, no older than 10, sprinted down the sidewalk. Jamie almost tripped when he dodged them. Cee effortlessly jumped in the air and floated above the kids as they ran past.

"Winter just started," Jamie said.

It was early afternoon now and downtown was still mostly empty. Jamie guessed that if he was a child living in Burgess, he'd be running around downtown just like the kids they just passed. It was certain that Jamie was from Burgess. His body was found in the Burgess forest and the man and woman in the shop were from his past.

For the past five years he was living in the foundation of his past, walking past people he used to know, visiting places he visited as a human. It was strange to know that he used to be familiar with Burgess, but was unable to recognize it at the same time.

Every time they walked past the shop, Jamie would slow his steps and look for the man and the woman. The third time they walked past, the man was gone.

When would Manny give him his memories? How long would it be until he was ready? After the man and woman died? He hoped not. For once, it would be nice to know what he was staring at, and the history that tied them together.

Cee and Jamie agreed to head back after one more cycle through downtown. They were walking past the shop for the final time when Kodi crashed into them.

"Shit!" Cee stumbled into a light pole. It made a loud sound, and a woman talking on her phone outside a salon stared wide eyed at it.

"Winter spirits in the Warren!" Kodi said, eyes round. "They're looking for Jamie!"

#

Kodi kept a death grip on Jamie's hand as they exited the bunny hole. He let Jamie walk ahead of him so he could stay out of the center of attention.

There were four winter spirits: Isabelle, two familiar spirits, and one unfamiliar spirit. One of the familiars was the other male spirit that had fawned over Jack when his wrist was snapped. The other was the one that had called Jamie a plain stick.

No autumn spirits were giving them a hard time. However, there was a personal bubble between the winter spirits and everyone else.

"We're here to apologize," Isabelle said and then shuddered. "Excuse me." She twitched and looked like she was biting back a barf. "Apologizes." She gagged. "Hate them."

"Jack sent you to apologize?" Cee asked.

"It was either that or get our flight taken away."

"Who are you apologizing to?" Jamie asked.

"Everyone at your camp. We need you as a witness."

"Weird," Cee muttered.

"Tell me about it." Isabelle sighed. "So I'm sorry for anything offensive I said to you, Jamie, and the cutie pie hiding behind you."

"Sorry for calling you a plain stick and feeding the insults," Plain Stick Guy mumbled.

"Sorry for everything you blame me for," the unfamiliar one said.

"What they said. Sorry on behalf of the entire camp," said the last.

"It's okay," Jamie said. "You don't even mean it, so…just go back to Jack and I'll tell him that you apologized to everyone. Are more coming to apologize?"

Isabelle shook her head. "Too many. Jack sent the most responsible ones."

"He should've sent Night over too. He did the most damage to me."

"Night's stubborn. He refused to apologize, so Jack too away his flight for the rest of the week. It might not seem long to a flightless spirit, but to a skilled one, it feels like many weeks."

"He's not flightless," Cee said. "He's learning."

"A flying stick," Plain Stick Guy laughed and then cleared his throat after Isabelle slapped his elbow. "Sorry."

"Is that all you came for?" Cee asked.

They all nodded.

"O…kay. Bye then. Exit's over there."

"Ever since Jack found out you lived, he's been crazy," Isabelle said over her shoulder with a glinting look at Jamie. The other spirits stared at him as they followed her to the bunny tunnel that would lead to Antarctica. "It'd be great if you convinced him to have some control over himself."

Jamie scratched his head. "I don't get it."

"Me either. Want to eat dinner?" Cee asked.

#

After dinner, Devin asked Jamie to walk with him. They went along a beat trail in the grass, passing by other spirits sitting on either side of it. There were picnics and napping areas set up, as well as large tent. Laughter filtered out of the tent's entrance flaps, and Ruby tripped out, face pale but mouth smiling. And then she threw up.

Jamie winced and Devin looked on sadly. Others went to her side for help as Jamie and Devin turned a curve into the forest part of the Warren. Here there were few spirits. Those that Jamie saw were sitting on tree branches, sleeping on tree branches, eating on tree branches, and kissing on tree branches.

Devin called Glen and his girlfriend out, embarrassing them to the point where Glen nearly toppled off the branch in embarrassment.

"Leave them alone," Jamie said. He smiled to let Devin know he was joking; sometimes Devin didn't read Jamie's jokes easily.

"Any longer and they would've been rutting."

"You can't rut in a tree. There's no room."

"And you'd know that because…" Devin smirked.

"It's obvious. Unless you find a thick branch or hold on tightly. Stop laughing. You started it. Why are we walking anyways?"

"A little bird told me that you went in search of your memories." Devin looked down his nose at Jamie. "It didn't go well."

Great. Jamie wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"You're supposed to leave the memories to Manny. He knows what is best for you."

"That totally explains why I fainted afterwards."

"Think of it as a punishment for seeking out top secret info."

Top secret info that Jamie probably wouldn't get for decades. Jamie wanted it soon. He wanted to have it while everything in his memories was still intact. He wanted to be able to see his favorite stores while they still were in business. He wanted to be able to see the places he loved to visit while they still existed. Most of all, he wanted to see the people he loved while they still breathed air. That man and woman from the shop…he wanted to look them in the faces and _know_ what they did in his life.

If Manny was cruel, he would keep the memories until everything was gone. Jack didn't get his memories until three centuries blurred by. Three centuries, and everything but that damn lake was gone. Jamie wouldn't last three centuries. He'd be a new Jamie – a Jamie who didn't remember 21st century Burgess.

He stopped walking, Devin coming to a stop right at his side. A strong hand gently kneaded his shoulder. "I know. I know."

Jamie's face was hot. He touched his cheek, flinching when he felt something sticky, wet, and warm. Tears. Devin brushed Jamie's fingers away and caressed his cheek, wiping tears away with the pad of his thumb.

"Stop babying me," Jamie hiccupped through a wet throat.

"You always have been my baby." Devin pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Ever since I found you, I've had this incredible urge to protect you."

Jamie sloppily batted Devin out of his personal space. "I'm not a baby."

"You look like one when you're crying. Look – oh wait, you can't – but your eyes and nose are pink. It's like they're buds waiting to blossom. Maybe petals will grow from your nose. Jamie the petal nosed spirit. Eh? Just like in that song?"

Jamie sniffed and rubbed his nose, hiding a smile. They continued into the forest, passing only one other spirit who was sprawled along the base of a tree, snoring loudly.

"You and Frost," Devin suddenly said.

It was like dropping a bomb on a silent battlefield. Jamie literally hopped in surprise. Devin laughed and tugged at one of the larger leaves on Jamie's head. Jamie grumbled and punched Devin in the side.

"Ow!" Devin laughed. "So what _is _going on between you two?"

"Nothing." How far did the trail go before looping back to camp? Jamie wished the camp was already in sight so that he could run back for "unfinished business".

"Liar. I saw that yellow rose bouquet. It means everlasting love."

Jamie's heart grew wings and soared into his throat. He coughed it down. "No, it's eternal friendship."

"Friendship is love," Devin said gently. It didn't have as gentle an effect on Jamie. He walked faster. Devin chuckled and tugged Jamie back by the collar. "I won't let you get away until you tell me everything."

"Pervert."

"I just want to make sure you're safe. Your heart that is. I wasn't implying _that_. Stop reading into my words like they're coming out of a cup of dirt."

The first time Jamie saw Devin, he was at the bottom of a dirt hole, looking between roots that threaded through the hole like spider webs. He remembered how caring Devin's face was. The sunlight made a halo around him, and Jamie thought he was an angel come to collect him from the dark tunnel of death.

Devin cared for him the first week of his rescue, teaching him about his spirit body and how to care for it. Ever since then, Devin was like a father to him. Though he looked young enough to be an older brother, Devin treated Jamie like a son. At first it was welcome. Jamie loved how Devin would crawl on his knees to make sure everything was okay. Weeks became years, and now Devin's care for him was getting bothersome.

"I'm not a baby. You don't have to worry about me."

"You're a baby spirit, only five years old, and that's enough reason for me to worry about you."

"You worry too much. Worry about Kodi – or Darius. Darius stabbed himself in the head and laughed at it."

"Leyla is in charge of him. I'm in charge of you."

Jamie huffed. His blood started to simmer. "Kodi needs to be watched, not me," he snapped. A small circle of wind pushed out from his ankles, stirring the flora along the trail. He walked faster.

"Kodi is fine. Cee's watching over him." Devin matched Jamie's angry pace. "Put yourself in my shoes for a minute."

"I don't want to be in the shoes of an obsessive freak. If you want a kid so bad, why don't you have one with Ruby or something?"

"Obsessive freak? I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

"Heartbreak."

"Hearbreak? From Jack? We're not even together. We're just friends."

"But you like him."

"As a friend."

"As more."

Jamie started jogging. "I don't."

"Yes you do. And you need to know the risks of getting involved with another season – especially winter."

"The only risk is that you're in the way!" Jamie sprinted, using wind to make his footsteps lighter and his movements smoother.

"Slow down!"

Jamie pressed onward, faster and faster. The trail took a right turn, but he continued straight. Devin would assume he followed the path to get back to camp. He manipulated the wind's strength until he was running on air. He was flying, finally!

It was nothing like before. He kept low to the ground, darting between trees and bushes, and eventually he was passing white eggs. Some of them waved. He smirked and toppled one over with a light push of wind.

Was this how it felt to the other spirits? Was this what Night cried over when his flight was taken away?

He spotted a stretch of no trees. The moment the trees cleared out he let his right side tip, and right before he dropped, he kicked his left leg back, starting a spin. Everything became a blur of green and brown – and gray and black.

Gray and black?

He straightened his body and slowed to a stop. He dropped to his feet. "What the hell is this?"

The forest's lively greens and browns were gone. The flowers sprinkled on the bushes were gone. Behind him was a green forest; in front of him was a gray forest.

He took slow steps into it. He didn't know what he was so cautious about, but after seeing that nothing happened, he walked normally.

It was like the trees were hanging between life and death. The leaves were just barely hanging onto the branches. It looked like someone had sprayed them gray.

There was a trail running perpendicular to him not too far ahead. He went to it, and realized that the trail wasn't a trail. It was just a trodden path. How many feet had trampled it out?

Jamie walked a little on it, and shivered. There was something uneasy about it. Something touched his shoulder. He turned around.

A man with no face stood right behind him.

He screamed. Slapped a hand over his mouth. Backed up.

The man stood still. His arms were abnormally long, ending just above his knees with pristine white gloves. Were they gloves at all? His face was so white that it looked like flexible paper.

"H-hi?" Jamie said. The man did nothing. "I-is this your part of the Warren? I – I'm sorry. I didn't know there were territories here."

The man raised an arm slowly. Jamie curled towards his stomach, eyelids quivering and ready to squeeze shut. The man extended a finger. Jamie whimpered. He took a step back but his feet stayed glued. The world tipped over but he was still standing.

"Shit." Jamie dropped to the ground. He clambered backwards. "S-sorry!" He scrambled to his feet and ran.

He tried to fly. It was too hard to focus and he ended up skimming the ground and smacking into dead branches. He landed jarringly on his feet, stepped, and tripped.

He braved his fear and looked back. The man wasn't following him.

He got to his feet, looked up.

The man still was pointing at him.

Hadn't he run? The trees and bushes all looked the same.

"What do you want?"

The man only lowered his finger.

"I'll leave. Okay? I'll leave now." Jamie walked toward where he hoped the green forest was. The man didn't do anything. Jamie ran.

He ran and flew in bursts, never stopping to look back. He was still in the dead forest. Green didn't show up anywhere except in his mind where he was starting to see spots.

He wanted to scream for someone to find him, but what other creature would hear him? Jamie cursed and slowed to a staggered walk. His ankle was throbbing as hard as his head and heart. He felt like a giant throb.

He tried to fly above the trees. Something was keeping him from getting up there. The closer he got to the top, the thicker the air felt, like goop.

Something touched his boot. He gulped and looked down. An egg was tapping his shin.

"Oh thank goodness." He picked it up. "Tell me how to get out of here."

The egg shrugged.

"I'll crack you." Jamie refrained from acting on his words.

The egg held its arms out. _Peace out_.

Jamie bent to put it down and then thought better of it. He kept the egg in a cupped hand as he ventured further from the forest – or deeper into it.

#

"We're getting nowhere," Jamie said. He looked at the egg, which was sleeping on his hand. He shook it until it woke. "Where do I go?"

The egg went back to sleep.

"I'll fry you when I get back to camp."

The egg rolled onto its side and pillowed its arm against Jamie's fingers.

Jamie's knees became stiff and his stomach rumbled. He sat against a tree, putting the egg down. It hobbled away and when Jamie thought it was abandoning him, it laid against a tree's protruding root.

If only Jamie could feast on his fear. He closed his eyes and immediately plunged into darkness.

"_Jamie!"_

_He turned at the sound of his name. Jack threw a snowball in his face. Jamie shouted, "What the heck?"_

"_Let's go ice skating at the lake. I made the ice extra thick."_

"_I have homework!" Jamie unlocked his front door._

"_Just two hours. Come on, Jamie. Please! I'm bored!"_

_He sighed. "Fine. I'll get my skates…"_

_Jack whooped and threw another snowball. It hit Jamie's bottom. "You little…" Jamie bundled his own snowball. Jack ducked and it sailed over his head. "You'll get snow in the house!"_

Jamie opened his eyes. The house. He knew that house.

He reached at his side for the lantern and then took in the dead trees surrounding him. He dropped his hand. The egg was gone. It probably left while Jamie was asleep.

The sky was darkening and Jamie had a feeling that night had only just begun. He crawled on his knees, ears straining to hear any strange sounds. There was wind, insects chirping, and someone calling his name.

"Here," Jamie whispered.

The voice got softer.

"Here," Jamie said.

The voice was getting further away.

"Here! Here!"

Jamie stopped breathing to listen for it. It was barely a whisper in the wind.

"Wait!" Jamie ran off the trail, tripping over unseen roots and twigs. "Here!" He almost face planted on a sharp tree root. He stumbled to the side, landing on his knees. "I'm here!"

The voice was getting dimmer by the second.

Jamie stopped, bent over his knees. "Hello?" he shouted, lifting his head – and there was the faceless man.

"Shit!" He spun around, tripped over his unsteady ankles, and fell forward. His head hit the ground and –

He woke up.

"Wha'?" He was sitting against the same tree where he went to sleep. "Egg…" The egg was gone.

He clutched his head and burrowed his face into his knees. He screamed.

#

Jamie threw his head back and screamed. "Where. The. Hell. Am. _I?_"

He had been walking for _hours_. There was nothing to eat or drink, nothing to see except for endless gray trees and bushes. He almost wished he could see the faceless man. The next time he did, he'd demand to be let out. And if the man did nothing, then he'd slap that blank face.

He stopped on a twig until it snapped into multiple pieces. The man watched him from next to a tree.

"Hey!" Jamie darted up to him. "Let me out of here. Please."

The man pointed at him. Jamie stepped back, told himself to grow up, and slapped the finger down.

He never touched it. His hand went right through.

He ran.

#

He didn't have a clue of how long he had been in that forest. Night came in random intervals. A few times Jamie would blink during the day and then open his eyes to complete darkness. Other times he would blink while he was walking and then open his eyes while he was sitting.

It didn't take a genius to realize that the forest was screwing with his sanity. He accepted the possibility that he had been walking for weeks. He ignored the possibility that he would walk like this forever, lost and in search of an exit.

"What asshole has a freaking forest like this in his backyard?" he asked.

Another thing: Jamie had quickly gotten used to talking to himself.

"Like what the hell is a _Guardian_ doing with this hell? And what's with the freaking Slender Man asshole that I can't even touch?"

He picked up a fallen branch and threw it at a treetop. Another branch tumbled down.

"AGHHHHHH." Jamie threw himself into a tree and clutched at the holds in the trunk. "I want to dieeeeeeeee." He slipped and landed on his back. He stared through the tree's branches. The sky was gray. It was always gray or black. Never blue. He missed the blue skies of Earth.

He closed his eyes. His stomach yelled at him. He soothed it with gentle rubs. Food wasn't a necessity to live, but it was a luxury that most spirits didn't live without. It was like entertainment. Humans didn't need entertainment, but they often felt like they would perish without a daily dose of fun.

He wondered how long it would take until his stomach adapted to a complete lack of food.

He thought of asking Manny for mercy so he could get on with the next life – whatever it was.

He rolled onto his side and dreamt of blue skies and blue eyes. He dreamt of Jack's white smile and the ghostlike freckles on his cheeks.

"Jack…" Jamie woke with tears caked on his face. "That's it." He slammed his hands on the ground and pushed himself to his feet. He rolled his ankles. "I'm busting outta here."

He went from tree to tree, scaling their height with his eyes. He tried to climb the tallest ones. He always ended up losing grips or breaking too many branches. Night fell many times, but he didn't stop to sleep.

Finally he climbed a tree sturdy enough to support his weight. He took a short break, wiping the sweat from his eyes. He tore off the fragments of his leggings that had gotten torn from his aimless trip around the forest. The scratches on his flesh were healing over nicely. They sealed themselves pretty fast. If the forest wasn't screwing with his time perception of injuries, it seemed that they healed within a few hours.

He reached for another branch.

_There._ That was the height he couldn't pass when he flew. He reached again. It was like a gel well. He wiggled his fingers into it.

He smiled, tears running into his mouth. "Come on…" He wiggled his hand all the way through. How deep was it? Would he be able to wriggle his whole body through?

He wriggled his entire arm into it – and then hit a wall.

"No no no no." There wasn't a crack in it. "Let me out. Let me out."

The wall was solid. There was no way he could get through by wriggling his fingers into it.

He withdrew his arm. Sobs wracked his body. Was this it? Was this as far as he could go?

"Please. Please. Please let me out."

He reached through the barrier and touched the wall. He pressed his palm against it. "Please please please let me out."

He kept his hand against it and closed his eyes. He wanted to scream and tear his hair free of leaves. He wanted to blow the whole damn forest up. He wanted to sleep and never wake up. He wanted to sleep and dream of Jack again. He wanted to stare into those damnable blue eyes and get lost in them. Wanted to drift endlessly in their sea.

Jamie screamed. He shoved his hand against the wall. Shoved again and again and again and –

"YES!"

He broke through.

"Let me out. Let me – no, I'm going out. I'm going out and you. Can't. Stop. Me."

He stuck his entire hand through. He wriggled his fingers. Cold air. Fresh air. He stuck his other hand in. It moved through the barrier and the wall easily.

He laughed and cried as he pressed his arms through. His head popped through the easiest. He wriggled until his entire upper body was out. He swung a leg over, dragged his other leg out.

"I'm free!" He threw his hands in the air.

The sky was blue, the barrier clear. Underneath him was the gray forest. It was dark; no light went through the barrier.

Jamie stood. He looked over the green forest in front of him and cupped his hands over his mouth. "I'M FREE!"

#

Jamie's legs were too heavy to walk, so he drifted in the air, barely manipulating the wind enough to carry him in the direction he wanted. He clipped trees various times. Sometimes his tunic caught onto branches and he ended up jerking backwards.

He screamed, "I'M HERE!" and a spirit shrieked and fell from a branch. Jamie was near camp! He rounded a tree and crashed into a body. "I'm here!"

"Oi! Watch where you're-" someone shouted.

"Watch it!" another spirit snapped.

"That hurt!"

"If you can't fly, don't fly!"

"Jamie?"

"I'm here!" Jamie breezed past the spirits shouting at him. He reached the camp, slamming into a tent and almost tearing a corner from its spoke. "I'm here!"

Someone rolled him off the tent. "Jeez! Jamie! What the hell – holy shit."

Jamie sat up. Spirits were gathering, faces horrified when they saw Jamie's disheveled appearance. It was worse than Jamie thought. His leggings were just rags, his tunic torn and matted with mud and dirt. His arms were coated in mud as well and were also littered with cuts. Hadn't they already healed though?

"How long was I gone?" Jamie asked after a painful swallow of water from an offered bowl.

"A few hours," Devin said, suddenly at Jamie's side. "You disappeared after you ran off. I thought you had gotten back to camp and gone on a little trip to Earth."

Jamie sputtered on his second sip of water. Devin rubbed his back – bare back. His tunic was torn at the back. He spat out the water left in his mouth. "Just hours?" he croaked.

"Where have you been?" Devin scratched dirt off Jamie's forehead.

"I – I was in the forest. There's a dark side where all the plants are dead and – and I was stuck in there for days!"

The gathered crowd burst into murmurs.

Devin's face darkened. "You went to the Forgotten Forest?"

"Is that what it's called?"

"Don't you know?" Devin whispered. "It's off limits. No one has ever walked out." Something changed in his expression. He tilted Jamie's head. "Unless they were… But that's impossible."

"Unless what?"

"You're a Guardian."

"Wh-?"

"Jamie!" Cee shoved a path through the crowd. Kodi followed her, apologizing quietly to the spirits she brushed aside. "You fucking son of a bitch. Don't you know any better?" She burst into tears and dropped in front of Jamie, clutching him to her chest. Kodi started crying soon later. He draped Cee and Jamie in his own hug, muffling his sobs into Jamie's hair.

#

News of Jamie's impossible trip to and from the Forgotten Forest spread like wildfire. Autumn spirits from different camps came to hug him, kiss his head, and insult him for being so idiotic. And some even congratulated him on becoming a Guardian.

He sat in his tent, removing his boots as Cee shooed off his visitors. Kodi was inside with him, face still wet with tears.

"I'm not a Guardian," Jamie said.

"Maybe you're like Frost before he became a Guardian."

"I don't think so. I'm still…a baby spirit. I have little experience of the spirit world. I didn't even know about Forgotten Forest."

"So get experience and maybe in three hundred years you'll become a Guardian." Kodi inspected one of Jamie's boots. "You really wore through your soles. Did you seriously walk for hours without stopping?" Kodi asked in awe.

"It felt like it. It was really hard to tell time there. Sometimes it was night for only a few minutes."

"That's so cool." Kodi looked at Jamie's other boot. "You're the only known spirit to survive the forest. Now you can tell others about it."

"I'd rather forget about what happened."

Jamie slipped the remains of his leggings off when the tent flaps blew in. He flung the leggings at the intruder in instinct.

It caught Jack in the face. He dragged it off and flung it at the ground. Jamie's breath caught at the sight of blue eyes. They were bluer than Jamie remembered them to be.

Jack said, "Imagine how I felt when-"

Jamie crashed into Jack. He inhaled the wintery smell of Jack's neck, felt the soft hair on the back of his head. He had missed this, the smell and feel of Jack. He didn't know how much he needed this until he was deprived of it for days, made to believe that he would never see Jack again.

Kodi edged around them, keeping his eyes on the ground. The tent flaps closed and it was just them. Just the two of them. Just like in Jamie's dreams.

Jack hugged Jamie's waist, holding them closer together, the way Jamie never knew he longed for. His heart thudded so hard that it hurt his collarbones. He pulled back just enough to see Jack's crystal blue eyes - the eyes that looked like snowflakes and the sea and the sky at the same time.

"I was so scared," Jack whispered, breath tickling Jamie's lips. He parted them instinctively, wanted Jack's breath inside, wanted to feel everything he'd been dreaming of.

"Me too. I – I thought I'd never," Jamie gulped. He was going to start crying again. "I – I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever and n-never s-see you again. It was s-so s-sad."

"Don't be sad now. I'm here."

"That's what I said w-when I got here. I was – I was looking f-for you." Jamie leaned in, uncertain if he was supposed to kiss Jack or admit something even deeper before going in. "I got a memory back."

"Oh. Did you?" Jack tilted his head just a hair to the left. It was enough to drive Jamie's heart in serious drum beat.

"I know where I lived. It's a few minutes from d-downtown. I want to visit it later."

"Later," Jack repeated. "After what?"

"After? I don't know kno-"

Jack kissed him.

Jamie slung his arms around Jack's neck. He closed his eyes, mind rushing like a hurricane.

Hands slipped into the tear of his tunic and gripped his back.

Jamie could've stayed there forever, lips locked.

Jack slid his lips to Jamie's cheek. "I missed this."

"I wish I remembered," Jamie said.

"You will. You'll remember all about how much of a flirt I am and how I love kissing you."

Jamie kissed him again.

* * *

**A/N: **Here's the thing, I don't know when I'll update again. I've fallen in love with the Ereri pairing in _Attack on Titan_ and I'm going to be working on a multi-chapter fanfic for that. I'm also writing a novel so I don't have a lot of extra time to dedicate to bennefrost.

If the kiss seemed rushed, it was because I needed to end this on a positive note in case if something happens and I completely drop this story. That's not likely, so hang in there.

(I was originally going to save the kiss for another two chapters.)

Unbeta'd.


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